Training for SALW Commission on Gender-Responsive Arms Control held in Budva

On 4 December 2025 in Budva, SEESAC organised a one-day training, Towards Gender-Responsive Small Arms and Light Weapons Control, for members of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Commission of Montenegro. The training brought together eight members of the SALW Commission from the Police Directorate, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Defence, and the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Montenegro.  

The training equiped participants with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively integrate a gender perspective into SALW control efforts. Participants familiarised themselves with the latest trends in policy development at both the international and regional levels, as well as with practical approaches for advancing the gender responsiveness of SALW control policies. To complement the presented findings of SEESAC's latest research, participants took part in interactive exercises designed to apply gender-responsive approaches to arms control measures.  

During the training, discussions were focused on the gender aspects of SALW, the gender differentiated impact of firearms misuse on women and men, the misuse of firearms in domestic violence and the role of dominant gender norms and specific forms of masculinity in fueling the demand for firearms and shaping the risk-taking behaviours. 

The training was organised under the regional project 'Support for Enhancing the Fight Against the Illegal Possession, Misuse, and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in the Western Balkans' funded by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II). Through this project, SEESAC is providing support to authorities in the Western Balkans to mainstream the gender perspective in the SALW control measures and, in particular, to prevent and combat the misuse of firearms in the domestic violence context.