14 / 32
1st
International
Police Women’s
Conference
in
Romania
Jaspreet Athwal
Nottinghamshire Branch
After two years as an IPA member and as the Nottinghamshire Branch Secretary, I embarked on my first
overseas adventure to the 1st International Police Women’s Conference in Romania. It was an incredible
experience where I met female officers from Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Cyprus and Israel. I was
the only representative of the United Kingdom and it was great that so many people actually knew about
Nottinghamshire, whether it be through Robin Hood or Carl Froch.
S
ection Romania were outstanding hosts
who started our trip, on the first night,
by taking us to a huge Brewery. The
President of the Romanian Section, Mr Costica
Voicu, joined us for dinner and there was live
Romanian music and delicious food.
The conference covered the topics of:
•
The Police in Romania
•
The Police Women’s role in the Public Order
System
•
Police Women - A force that cannot be
defeated
We spoke about the gender roles in society and
how they have changed in the Police. There were
a lot of similarities globally, as women are now at
all ranks and areas of investigation.
Elena Banea, the Vice President of the Romanian
Section spoke in depth about how the role of
Women in Policing has advanced in recent years.
She gave examples of opportunities that would
never have been open to female officers in the
past, but now are.
The audience were all young Police Constables
from different countries who could all relate
to being a female constable with different
challenges faced working day.
As we were all operational Police Officers, we
were able to discuss different cases we had dealt
with and relevant policing topics around them.
At the end of the conference we were each
formally awarded an Honorary Diploma from the
Romanian Section.
Aside from the conference I was given a guided
tour of Romania’s Palace of Parliament in the
capital city of Bucharest, the second largest
administrative building in the world and it was
truly stunning. I visited the Vinuri De Macin
Winery. It was a great afternoon of trying the local
wine. Afterwards we were able to see the local
entertainment which included singing
and dancing.
I also had a trip to the Danube Delta in Tulcea,
a river which flows 1,788 miles from Germany’s
Black Forest to the Black sea, it is a biosphere
reserve. We went on a speedboat through some
of the magical passages surrounded by tree’s.
I have never seen such natural beauty where
there were so many species of bird flying over
the waters.
I have made new friends and contacts as a result
of this trip. So many presents and souvenirs were
exchanged. Overall I had a fantastic experience
on this trip to Romania and I would like to thank
our hosts at IPA Romania, my senior officers for
supporting this trip and also the IPA President
Mick Luke.
POLICE WORLD
Vol 62 No. 4, 2017
Article
14