Ref: 25/2019

On Thursday, 02 May 2019, the Palestinian Center for Human rights (PCHR) concluded a training course on gender-based violence and the mechanisms of intervention and protection.  Twenty-five members representing 12 community-based organizations from specific areas in the Gaza Strip and active in the field of defending women’s rights and provides women with social, legal and economic services.

This training course comes in light of PCHR’s long-term efforts to contribute to building the capacity of those working in civil society organizations in the field of human rights concepts in general and women’s rights in particular, in addition to issues relevant to gender-based violence, and mechanisms of intervention and legal protection to treat these issues.  Thus, they become a new addition in disseminating these concepts within their organizations and colleagues and providing the necessary support to women, who are victims of violence, in a way that promotes and respects women’s rights and enhances their role in building society. The 20-hour course was held in the training hall of Heavens Restaurant from 28 April – 02 May 2019.

The training program tackled various topics commensurate with the needs of the targeted group, aiming at identifying the concepts of human rights in general and women’s rights in particular in addition to gender-based violence, its forms and causes, ways of dealing with it, the mechanisms of intervention and legal protection of women, who are victims of violence, Palestinian legislations and their role in protecting women, human rights-based approach, the national intervention system for victims of violence, documenting and monitoring violations of women’s rights and PCHR’s role in following up these violations and working on tackling them.

A team of PCHR’s staff supervised the training sessions. The team included: ‘Abdul Halim Abu Samra, Director of PCHR’s Training Unit;  Khalil Shahin, Director of PCHR’s Economic and Social Rights Unit; Mohammed ‘Atallah, a trainer at PCHR; Majedah Shehadah, a Researcher at PCHR’s Women’s Unit; and Walid Zaqqout, a fieldworker at PCHR.

At the end of the course, PCHR organized a closing ceremony, where Abdul Halim Abu Samra, Director of PCHR’s Training Unit, emphasized that gender-based violence has inflicted many profound consequences on individuals, family, society and the state, stressing on women’s role in building and developing society.

He also mentioned that the Palestinian woman has many contributions at all levels in this field, warning that the Palestinian women like other women of the world suffer from violence and in different forms, but the particularity of the Palestinian situation has made them suffer from complex and multiple violence practiced by both the occupation and society.

Abu Samrah pointed out to the close link between the issues of violence against women and human right, stressing that violence against women is considered the most prevalent human rights violation.

In her speech, Mona Shawwa, Head of PCHR’s Women’s Unit, said that out of its convictions and since its establishment, PCHR established a unit specialized in disseminating and enhancing women’s rights in the Palestinian society, providing legal aid for both women’s organizations and women, in addition to raising the Palestinian woman’s awareness and making them acquainted with their rights in addition to supporting all efforts aiming at changing the domestic laws in a way that achieves justice for women, who are victims of violence.

She added that this training course promotes cooperation and networking between PCHR and community-based organizations in the Gaza Strip because it focuses on basic issues and needs of women and strengthening the capacity of participants in training to respond to cases of violence against women in addition to providing assistance, intervention and protection for women who are victims of violence, through expanding the community interaction between PCHR and the organizations active in women’s issues to achieve a cohesive society that fights all forms of violence.

The participants emphasized that “the course was characterized with its rich topics; trainers’ efficiency and various and interactive training methods used in the course, which shed the light in several important topics which enhanced and developed their skills”

At the end of the ceremony, all participants in the training course received certificates.