Kathryn Bolkovac (born 1961) is a human rights advocate, consultant, former police investigator with the Lincoln Police Department, and former monitor with United Nations International Police Task Force in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

. She came to prominence when she sued her employers for unfair dismissal after she lost her job following her attempts to expose

sex trafficking Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the ...

in Bosnia. Her story was shown in the film ''

The Whistleblower ''The Whistleblower'' is a 2010 biographical drama film directed by Larysa Kondracki and starring Rachel Weisz. Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan wrote the screenplay, which was inspired by the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraska police officer w ...

'' and told in the nonfiction book, ''The Whistleblower'', with journalist Cari Lynn.

Bosnia

Bolkovac left the Lincoln Police Department in 1999 and signed a contract with DynCorp Aerospace, a British subsidiary of US based

DynCorp International DynCorp (), formally DynCorp International, was an American private military contractor. Started as an aviation company, the company also provided flight operations support, training and mentoring, international development, intelligence training ...

. DynCorp had a $15 million UN-related contract to hire and train police officers for duty in Bosnia. After a week at the company's training facility in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...

, Bolkovac was sent to

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

, Bosnia where she worked as a human rights investigator for three months. She was then moved to Zenica, north of Sarajevo to work on a specialist case aimed at fighting violence against women. In July 2001, Bolkovac filed a lawsuit in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

against DynCorp for unfair dismissal after a protected disclosure (

whistleblowing A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

). They had claimed she was fired for falsifying time sheets. On August 2, 2002 the tribunal unanimously ruled in her favour. She reported that fellow DynCorp officers were paying for

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

s, raping underage girls and participating in

. While locals were prosecuted, any UN contractors involved had

immunity from prosecution Legal immunity, or immunity from prosecution, is a legal status wherein an individual or entity cannot be held liable for a violation of the law, in order to facilitate societal aims that outweigh the value of imposing liability in such cases. Su ...

in Bosnia, although a number of these officers were forced to resign and leave the country, under suspicion of illegal activity. Madeleine Rees, Head of Office in the region for the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nat ...

, testified in her support. In November 2002, an employment tribunal ordered DynCorp to pay Bolkovac £110,221 in damages. She stated that the case settlement “didn’t really even cover expenses”. The

US Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

continued their contract with DynCorp.

Later career and activism

In 2015, Bolkovac graduated with a degree in political science from

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...

. Also in that year, she was nominated for a

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolo ...

. She has continued to work against human trafficking and violence against women, and is a public speaker addressing trafficking, ethics and anti-corruption issues. Bolkovac has stated that she doesn’t consider herself an activist but “more of an advocate for change“. She designed and taught a masters level course at the

University for Peace The University for Peace (UPEACE) is an international university and intergovernmental organization. The university was established as a treaty organisation by the United Nations General Assembly in 1980. Each year, the University for Peace se ...

. In 2020 she began working on launching a human rights curriculum for middle and high school students.

Personal life

Bolkovac has three children from her first marriage, two daughters and a son. In 1999 she met Jan, a police officer for the

Dutch Government The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekk ...

, whom she worked with in Bosnia and had a 12-year relationship with.

Media

Bolkovac's story was made into a film, ''

'', starring

Rachel Weisz Rachel Hannah Weisz (; born 7 March 1970 ) is an English actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a BAFTA Award. Weisz began acting in British stage and television in the ...

as Bolkovac. It was released in 2010. Following a screening of the film, UN Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Ministe ...

opened a panel discussion on sexual exploitation and abuse in conflict and post-conflict situations. The filmmaker and senior UN officials addressed issues raised in the film, including human trafficking and forced prostitution as well as the organisation's effort to combat sexual exploitation of women and children. Bolkovac has also co-authored a 2011 book with Cari Lynn, ''The Whistleblower: Sex Trafficking, Military Contractors and One Woman's Fight for Justice''.

References

External links

Kathryn Bolkovac's home page

Interview with Kathryn Bolkovac
by the ''

Christian Science Monitor Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

''
Interview with Kathryn Bolkovac
by the

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

Interview with Kathryn Bolkovac
by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...