Women in focus at the 59th session of the African Commission

Vice Chairperson at ACHPR, Soyata Maiga (left) and Principal Police Commissioner of Mali, Néné Amy Ouédraogo (right).
The Danish Institute for Human Rights participated in the 59th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights with a strong focus on women's rights.

The African Union have declared 2016 the year of women's rights in Africa, and this was celebrated at the 59th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Banjul in the Republic of Gambia in late October. The commission decided to focus on women's rights in all the major debates.

The Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) works with the African Commission to promote human rights in the daily work of the police on the African continent. This work takes its outset in the Institute’s work with the national police in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. One of our partners in Burkina Faso, Principal Police Commissioner and permanent lecturer on human rights, Néné Amy Ouédraogo, spoke at the Ordinary Session on the importance of women in the police.

In recent years there have been more focus on equality and women's rights in West Africa. More women report violence and rape, because the police are beginning to listen. This is thanks to the efforts of women like Néné.
Monique Alexis, strategic adviser for DIHR in the region since 2000.

DIHR has worked with Néné Amy Ouédraogo since 2012, and the focus of our work in Burkina Faso has not in particular been on women in police, but her presence and rise within the police force have had an positive effect on women's rights and on the representation of women in the police force. Néné Amy Ouédraogo has been a member of the working group that back in 2012 undertook the development of the materials for educating the police force in human rights. She is now the coordinator of the education of police forces in human rights in Burkina Faso.

Having a police officer speaking at the African Commission is very uncommon, and when that police officer is a woman, the effect is even bigger. Police have not traditionally been much involved in human rights work in the region, but this is slowly changing.

Néné Amy Ouédraogo spoke about the importance of female police officers at the session in Banjul. Female police officers are vital in order to avoid jeopardizing the respect for and privacy of individuals when conducting body searches and pat-downs and when guarding female detainees. However, female police officers are also vital for less obvious reasons.

Women are for example more inclined to open up to female officers when being interrogated as either the perpetrator or the victim of sexual, physical or psychological violence. They are often convinced that only an officer of the same gender will help them. And the trust seems to be mutual. According to Néné Amy Ouédraogo, women in the police force in Burkina Faso have proven to be successful in conducting and concluding cases of violence towards women and children.

VIDEO: Principal Police Commissioner Néné Amy Ouédraogo, speaks about the importance of women in the police