42 women from different professions and backgrounds are the newest cohort of graduates of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre's flagship Regional Training Program on Gender, Violence Against Women and Girls, Human Rights and Development dealing with issues relating to violence against women and girls in their line of work.
According to the FWCC Coordinator Shamima Ali, the graduates are from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, West Papua, and Nauru.
She says they have been taken through a wide range of topics, from rape, and domestic violence to sexual harassment and child abuse, to human rights laws, as well as basic counsellor training, advocacy, and lobbying.
Ali says the ultimate aim is to eliminate all forms of violence against women and children in the Pacific Region, which is why all participants have been strategically chosen from institutions and organizations that are at the forefront of dealing with such issues.
She says participants have been able to discuss and analyze the cause, contributing factors, incidence, severity, and trends in violence against women, girls, and children in all their diversity in Pacific societies.
She adds it is encouraging to see more and more people working to eliminate violence against women and girls applying to attend the training.
Ali says the Regional Training Program was initiated in 1995 and since then has grown significantly, becoming renowned for its international standards, supported by the many success stories from communities and countries where participants have returned to make a positive impact using the knowledge they’ve gained from the program.
Furthermore, she adds more than 900 women and men from around the region and Fiji have undergone this training.
The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre as the Secretariat of the Pacific Women’s Network on Violence Against Women conducts the training.
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