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Good Practice

Women as mountain rescuers

Oct 07, 2024
What skills do women have as mountain rescuers and why are they underrepresented? Young people discussed this with mountain rescuer Veronika Šenk during a "Visit Utopia" in the Slovenian Alps in July 2024.
Image caption:
Veronika Šenk showing youngsters different techniques for mountain rescue and discussing why women play an important role in this mission. (c) Tiziano Biagi

Women are under-represented in the mountain rescue mission. There are many mountain rescue associations in Slovenia without women in the team. Some male mountain rescue members do not see the importance of women in the profession, or even have a dismissive attitude. 

Women do indeed play an important role in the team: they are the ones who can offer excellent psychological support to the injured. They are often more empathetic, and they are the ones who take the initiative to open a conversation about the experience after difficult actions with unfortunate outcomes that they experience. This helps to prevent rescuers from experiencing personal distress.

With inviting mountain rescuer Veronika Šenk, CIPRA Slovenia created a space for discussion, what women can bring into this sector.
The young people pointed out that they respect the dedication of the mountain rescuers, who do their work voluntarily. The whole group realised that there is still a lot to be done to ensure the future of mountain rescue, e.g. by involving more women, but also children and young people in this mission.  It is especially important to voice out more, how important it is to have both genders representative in this sector. Women have an important contribution to make that should not be overlooked.


Sources and links:

www.cipra.org/sl/novice/vloga-zensk-v-gorskem-resevanju (sl), www.grzs.si/en (Mountain Rescue Association of Slovenia), www.womeninrescue.org (en)

Photos (c) Tiziano Biagi

Filed under: GoodPractice, Visit Utopia

What: The importance of women in mountain rescue

Who: Veronika Šenk, mountain rescue and doctor part of Mountain Rescue Service Jezersko

Where: Starting point was the bus station Ljubljana/SI (or other places) to Bohinjska Bistrica, where we began our  two-day hike on the Via Alpina trail. On the first day, we walked to mountain hut Zorko Jelinčič on Črna prst, where we spent the night. Then, on the second day, we continued on the Via Alpina trail along the ridge to Mali Matajurski Vrh and Rodica and back down into the valley to Ribčev laz and finished the walk with a swim in Lake Bohinj.

When: 22.-23.7. 2024

Transferability: In all alpine countries, the role of women in mountain rescue should be stronger. Role models can help with this, such as the first female head of rescue for Swiss Alpine Rescue: www.sac-cas.ch/de/die-alpen/die-vielfalt-macht-die-teams-stark-35933/ (de, fr, it)