A one-day workshop for a newly-established multi-disciplinary working group on addressing domestic violence issues concluded in the Khuroson district of the province of Khatlon on February 2. The event was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe.
According to the OSCE Programme Office, the multi-disciplinary group consisted of regional representatives of key governmental structures responsible for 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 Interior Ministry, the Prosecution Office, Ministry of Labor and Migration, Ministry of Health and Social protection, Ministry of Education as well as representatives from civil society organizations working on domestic violence issues.
During the workshop the participants were familiarized with a multidisciplinary approach to addressing domestic violence cases and the use of a referral form developed by the Programme Office in order to be able to refer survivors of domestic violence to quality support, protection and rehabilitation entities in a timely manner.
In a simulation exercise, the participants practiced working with the referral mechanism whilst implementing the multi-disciplinary approach for supporting and protecting domestic violence victims. They also discussed current challenges and ways to improve local mechanisms using a victims-centered approach. A memorandum of understanding and an action plan, which are to be the main tools for joint action by the entities involved in the multi-disciplinary group on counteracting domestic violence in Khuroson, were also drafted.
“The multidisciplinary approach helps to support the victims and survivors of domestic violence comprehensively and quickens the process of victims’ recovery and rehabilitation,” said Marifat Khidiraliyeva, Project Manager of the OSCE-supported Woman’s Resource Center in Khuroson.
Vesna Ivanovikj-Castarede, Gender and Anti-Trafficking Officer at the Programme Office in Dushanbe, said: “A comprehensive multidisciplinary approach is an inclusive method of working that engages all actors in the field of domestic violence prevention and the protection of domestic violence victims. We have a very good relationship of co-operation with the national structures responsible for implementing the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence, and we work together on increasing the awareness of citizens through community outreach activities.”
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.
The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe also supported the establishment of multidisciplinary working groups to counteract domestic violence in Panjakent and Isfara in the Sughd province and in Vanj and Khorog in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) in 2017 and conducted similar workshops for them.
