OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe holds workshop on prevention of domestic violence
The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe delivered a workshop for a newly-established multi-disciplinary group on preventing domestic violence and supporting, protecting and rehabilitating survivors and victims, on 13 September 2017 in Isfara, northern Tajikistan.
The multi-disciplinary group is comprised of regional representatives of key governmental structures involved in the implementation of the Law on Prevention of Violence in the Family, including the Committee on Women and Family Affairs, the Commission on the Rights of the Child, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labor, the Committee on Youth, Sports and Tourism and the Committee on Religious Affairs, Regulation of National Traditions, Celebrations and Ceremonies as well as representatives of civil society organizations.
During the workshop participants were exposed to the role of referral mechanisms, multi-disciplinary approaches to assisting victims and the importance of inter-agency co-operation. A Memorandum of Understanding between all the entities which are part of the multi-disciplinary group in Isfara and are responsible for the Law on Domestic Violence as well as a four-month Action Plan were drafted.
“A multi-disciplinary approach and effective referral mechanisms are essential instruments for the effective implementation of national legislation targeting domestic violence,” said Ibodullo Fattoev, Project Manager of the OSCE-supported Woman’s Resource Centre in Isfara.
Mahbuba Mamadatokhonova, National Gender Officer of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, said: “It is encouraging that state agencies are supportive of this approach and civil society organizations, specifically the OSCE-supported Women Resource Centres, have already applied this principle of work in some regions of Tajikistan with an intention to extend it to other regions of the country.”
The event was part of the support the OSCE Programme Office offers to the Interior Ministry with respect to gender mainstreaming in police reform, and was aimed at institutionalizing informal mechanisms for the referral and assistance of domestic violence victims at the local level.