Forty officers from Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda enhanced their skills on how to conduct gender-sensitive firearms investigations.
From 7 to 18 November 2022, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), in collaboration with the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda, carried out the Specialised Course on Firearms Investigations from a Gender Perspective (FIGP), aimed at strengthening participants’ technical knowledge on gender-sensitive firearms-related criminal investigations.
Participants represented the following institutions: Royal Police Force, the Defense Force, the Immigration Department, the Customs and Excise Division and the Office of National Drug and Money Laundering Control Policy.
The course trained participants on applying gender perspectives to criminal firearms investigations as a complementary method of analysis, thereby contributing to hypothesis free from stereotypes, as well as to identifying evidence of gender-based violence, and ensuring the respect of the human rights or the victims and survivors. The involvement of firearms in violence against women not only leads to fatalities, but they are also used to threaten, intimidate and coerce women.
Course participants agreed on the importance of strengthening inter-institutional cooperation among the different agencies involved in cases related to violence against women, thus optimising their individual and collective efforts to reduce the levels of impunity.
This activity is part of the Canada funded project in support of the implementation of the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap.
With initiatives such as this one, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, with the technical assistance of UNLIREC, shows its commitment to the prevention and eradication of violence against women.