Women’s participation in international networks and organisations
2003
Presence of women from the Mossos d’Esquadra in the European Network of Policewomen
Catalonia’s Autonomous Police – Mossos d’Esquadra has been a member of the European Network of Policewomen (ENP) since 2003. This European network was created with the aim of empowering policewomen.
The ENP was recognised as an NGO by the United Nations in 1996. It has progressively adapted and broadened its objectives, focusing on gender mainstreaming and diversity management across Europe.
The first person from the Mossos d’Esquadra to join the ENP was the now Inspector Rosa M. Gubianes. Subsequently, the Mossos d’Esquadra took the reins of the ENP, under today’s Commissioner Marta Fernández Barea.
Group of policewomen representing their police forces at a conference held by the European Network of Policewomen. On the right, representing the Mossos d’Esquadra, is Inspector Remei Linares.
2006
Presence of women from the Mossos d’Esquadra in the International Association of Women Police
The International Association of Women Police (IAWP) was founded to promote the role and promotion of women in policing, as well as to recognise their accomplishments. The 2006 IAWP conference held in the United Kingdom was attended by representatives of the Mossos d’Esquadra and the Police School of Catalonia.
Press clippings covering the attendance of female members of the Mossos d’Esquadra at the IAWP conference in the United Kingdom.
2007
The first woman from the Mossos d’Esquadra to become a member of the Board of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes
Lourdes Puigbarraca, from the 10th cohort, attained the rank of intendant in 2010.
Intendant Puigbarraca has dedicated part of her career to the fields of criminal investigation, police science and forensic science. In the field of criminal investigation, she was one of the first women (and the very first in some cases) to hold positions of command, for example in the Central Environmental Unit, the Technical Investigation Unit, the Technical Investigation Department and the Scientific Police Division.
In 2007 she graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, USA. She is a current member of the FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA) and the FBINAA European Chapter.
In 2010 she was appointed chief of the Scientific Police Division of the Commissariat General for Criminal Investigation.
Highlighting this period of Puigbarraca’s career was her involvement, first as a member and then as a member-representative, on the Board of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI), where she represented the Mossos d’Esquadra from 2010 to 2015. During this same period, she represented the force in the Network of Official Forensic Laboratories of Spain (RLFOE), the National Commission for the Forensic Use of DNA and the National Technical Commission for Major Disasters.
Intendent Puigbarraca with a member of the FBI (left) and at an international conference posing with other attendees (right).
