Good Practice
Women as mountain rescuers
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)