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Contact:
Claudia Monlouis
Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - The Ministry of Home Affairs and Gender
Relations will, in the coming months, employ a new technique to assist in
efforts to stem the tide of domestic violence in communities around the island.
The project will recruit and provide training for persons to form what is termed
“Community Response Teams”.
Director of Gender Relations Lera Pascal says, “Normally when domestic violence
occurs, people tend to stay away and say this is not their concern, but if there
is a group of people who are trained in making an initial intervention, I think
it will go a long way in helping to alleviate the situation of domestic
violence. So these community response teams will be volunteers who themselves
are community spirited people, who want to give of their time to assist in the
fight against domestic violence.”
Pascal says, the community response teams will serve as a first point of
contact, and will be expected to act on behalf of both victims and perpetrators.
As such, they will be trained in mediation, conflict resolution and counselling.
They will also serve as linkages between community service providers and the
victims.
The project will commence with six (6) workshops for 36 persons and will cover
the communities of Anse La Raye, Canaries, Dennery, Laborie, Choiseul and Gros
Islet. Pascal says, volunteers will be introduced to their respective
communities as soon as the training is completed.
Funding for the project is being provided by CIDA’s Gender Equity Fund.
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