In the quest to eliminate all forms of violence against women and children, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation will be training its gatekeepers for the Zero Tolerance Violence Free Community Campaign.
This was pointed out by the Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni while speaking at the Fiji Women’s Federation Advisory (FWF) Committee meeting held in Suva this week.
The Ministry has embarked on the Zero Tolerance Violence Free Community Campaign with the aim of gathering community support to eliminate violence against women and children.
“We started this campaign way back in 2008 and it was piloted in Koroipita, Lautoka and Vatutavui in Ba based on the evaluation from these projects we have embarked on a national campaign”.
“We gather community support, conduct awareness and most importantly, develop gatekeeping committees that comprises of church leaders, women leaders, youth leaders and children take ownership of this initiative and contribute towards the implementation of this campaign,” she said.
She reiterated that the Ministry will work with the relevant stakeholders like Police to provide training opportunities for the gatekeepers, to educate and empower them to be the advocates of the violence free communities.
“The behavioral change takes time so when a community joins this campaign, the Ministry presents them with a certificate of commitment, then they are assisted and empowered through awareness programs on counseling skills, anger management, Domestic Violence Decree and Child Welfare Decree.
Dr Luveni said the increase in reported cases of violence demonstrate the growing commitment by the public towards this violence-free program. “Violence is no longer a private issue, people are now reporting the cases to police which means that people are now more aware and confident in reporting the cases,” she added.
There 32 communities currently on the zero tolerance violence free campaign and 30 more communities are confirmed to join in this year.
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