POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FIELD OPERATIONS central ASIA Women, Family and Demographic Policy under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (National Commission), UN Women, the UN Population Fund and the UN Development Programme, and focused on the development of crisis centres for victims of domestic violence. It gathered some 150 parliamentarians, members of the National Commission, law enforcement bodies and heads of the crisis centres from all the regions, as well as representatives of the national and local government, international organizations and experts from Austria, Germany, Montenegro, Romania and the United States. Participants discussed best practices in preventing and addressing domestic violence, protecting victims and supporting the activities of the crisis centres. Hate Crime On 12 June and on 28 June, in Kostanai and Aktau, the Office, in co-operation with the NGO Legal Media Centre, supported seminars on the protection of freedom of expression and policies to counter hate speech on the internet. A total of approximately 50 participants, including journalists, law enforcement officials and representatives of civil society, discussed the relationship between the media and hate speech policies, as well as potential means of enhancing cooperation between the government, civil society and media organizations. Using real-life cases, participants examined how intolerance can be shaped by visual stereotypes of different social and ethnic groups in the media. The event was a follow-up to seminars held in 2017 in Aktobe, Petropavlovsk, Uralsk and Ust-Kamenogorsk. On 24 August, the Office, together with the Soros Foundation, Embassy of the Netherlands and the “International Fund of Protection of Speech ‘Adil Soz’”, co-organized an expert public hearing on hate speech policies and relevant legislation. The event gathered some 25 legal and media experts, lawyers and a representative from the Ministry of Justice who discussed international standards and challenges in the implementation and interpretation of Criminal Code Article 174 on Incitement of Social, National, Racial, Clan or Religious Hatred. Participants discussed, among other thngs, the ambiguity of current legislation and the lack of qualified experts to independently interpret the law. On 21 September, in Karaganda, the Office supported a seminar on the protection of freedom of expression and policies to counter hate speech on the internet. The event was co-organized with the NGO Legal Media Centre for some 20 journalists, representatives of civil society and university students who discussed the relationship between media and hate speech policies, as well as ways of enhancing co-operation between the government, civil society and media organizations. Together with national experts from Kazakhstan, participants examined a number of electronic resources and print media examples to analyse Police academy instructors conduct a practical exercise during a training-of-trainers event on risk profiling. Karaganda, Kazakhstan, 12 December 2018 (OSCE/Mikhail Assafov) the vocabulary used by journalists. These real-life case studies offered participants an insight into the damaging effects of stereotypes in the media. The event aimed to equip journalists with the tools to counter hate speech in the media and on the internet, including mechanisms to reduce potential harm from a malicious internet environment, and destructive behaviour such as trolling, cyber-bullying and hate speech. On 24 October, the Office supported a roundtable discussion on “Expert Research on the Signs of Invocation to Violence: A Discussion of Project Methods”. The event was coorganized by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Nur-Sultan, the government-managed Centre for Judicial Expertise, the NGO Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan and the International Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech “Adil Soz”, with support from the Office. Participants discussed the interpretation of laws intended to prevent hate speech and calls to violence, as well as ways to promote self-regulation of the media. Other, including co-ordination and cooperation From 16 to 18 April, in Karaganda, the Office, in partnership with the Karaganda Police Academy and the MoI, supported a training seminar for law enforcement press officers on the fundamentals of public relations and effective communication strategies between law enforcement and media. Some 30 press officers from across Kazakhstan took part in the seminar. A special session focused on the use of new media and social networks, including fact-checking, drafting social media content, addressing negative comments and trolling. 129