Mara Garavini Seisselberg

Criminal Justice Adviser 
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

Operating period: since July 2022

Previous stations

• 2019 - 2022 Various positions at the OSCE in Vienna, Austria
• 2018 - 2019 CIO-Advisory, KPMG Germany 

In my position as Criminal Justice Adviser, ...  

I support participating states in the field of criminal justice reform with a focus on crime prevention and gender-sensitive approaches to organized crime. Youth crime rates have increased across the OSCE area in the past years, with significant costs and negative consequences for the criminal justice system, affected communities and young people themselves (German data shows that on average a young multiple offender has 100 victims and aggregates social follow up costs of 1.7 Million Euro by the age of 25) – this emphasizes the importance of investing in prevention. 

My motivation is to ...  

help law enforcement identify at-risk youth early and fostering collaboration with social services and civil society to address the root causes of youth crime. Youth crime stems from a range of complex risk factors, including domestic violence, abuse, neglect, and substance use.

Another aspect that motivates me is addressing gender biases in crime prevention. Criminality, particularly organized crime, is often still perceived as male-dominated phenomenon, leaving women and girls at risk of recruitment into criminal networks invisible and undetected. This oversight means that they are less likely to be included in prevention and exit programs, which remain largely tailored to men. I aim to support participating States to address gender stereotypes in relation to organized crime to achieve more inclusive prevention and exit programming across the OSCE area.

The biggest highlights of my time as a ZIF secondee so far have been ...

• Developing the youth crime prevention curricula in Kyrgyzstan and seeing that being implemented in all schools across the country; 

• Supporting Albania in developing a youth crime prevention pilot, strengthening co-operation between police and social services to enhance early identification of at-risk youth and addressing the root causes of youth crime; 

• Publishing first ever international research on the role of women in organized crime, looking at an overlooked aspect of organized crime and emphasizing the need for gender-sensitive and inclusive prevention and exit initiatives. 

You were honoured with the OSCE Excellence Award in 2024: What were you recognised for and what does this award mean to you?

I was awarded the Performance Award for my work in 2023 on youth crime prevention and on the OSCE’s study on the role of women in organized crime. On youth crime prevention, for example I supported Kyrgyzstan in developing schools and university educational curricula on youth crime prevention all across the country, which foster critical thinking and deglamorize the image of crime.

I am proud to have led the OSCE research on the role of women in organized crime, the first ever international study assessing the role of women as actors in organized crime, addressing an overlooked aspect of organized crime, emphasizing the need for a gender-sensitive and inclusive prevention and exit initiatives which support both men and women.

Background on the study: Findings show that women’s agency and important roles inside criminal networks are rarely acknowledged across the OSCE area, in turn allowing women in organized crime groups to 1) act with impunity and 2) remain invisible to prevention and exit initiatives. Prevention and exit efforts remain largely male-focused, leaving women and girls often invisible and without the support they need.