Deadline: 23-Aug-22
The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, in partnership with the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) and Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association (GLEPHA), is presenting an online course on Policing and Vulnerability in Africa from 5 to 9 September 2022.
The aim of the course is to provide insight into the impact that police can have on the enjoyment of human rights by a wide variety of key populations. This can include those who confront discrimination within many societies, on the basis of sex or gender identity, on the basis of disability or of xenophobia. It can also include those who are in some other way marginalised, because of economic or social conditions, or because of drug use or sex work.
The Centre presents another course, earlier in the year, on police oversight and accountability architectures, and those issue will not be addressed in such detail in this programme; but some of the same themes will recur, including the way in which such governance stakeholders can play a valuable role in ensuring effective service delivery to potentially marginalised populations.
This programme will also move beyond a purely human rights and criminal justice approach toward questions of protection in these contexts, exploring the potentially valuable contribution to be made by public-health or developmental approaches. Sometimes it is necessary for the criminal justice system to get out of the way (for example through the decriminalisation of petty offences), but police officers cannot be expected to have all of the solutions.
The objective of the course is to contribute toward building a community of practitioners on the continent who can become active advocates for increased accountability of the police, and who are skilled to identify and act in terms of overseeing the actions of the police. Training is provided to police officers, legal practitioners, policy-makers, and graduate students.
Course outline
- African human rights framework and protection of potentially vulnerable populations
- International standards for police use of force, management of assemblies, custody management
- Policing gender and sexual violence
- Access to justice for persons with disability, especially as victims of violence
- The role of the police in investigating and prosecuting sexual and gender related crimes
- Working with the police to improve public health outcomes of key populations
- Harm reduction approaches to drug policies and policing
- Policing and migration
Application procedure
- Important Notice
- A high proficiency in English is required to attend this course. All lectures and materials are in English. Prior to applying for this course, please read through the information on the practical information and the payment details pages.
- Documents to be submitted:
- Curriculum Vitae (short CV in PDF or Word document, maximum 3 pages, maximum 10 MB in file size)
- One Letter of Recommendation (PDF or Word document, maximum of 10 MB in file size)
- Academic Records (students only) (combined in one PDF or Word document, maximum 10 MB in file size)
For more information, visit https://www.chr.up.ac.za/courses-presented/policing-and-vulnerability-in-africa