What should a member of a committee on the violence prevention do and in what order after receiving a call or request from a victim?

On March 28 and 29, seminars were held for the Local Committee on the Prevention of Domestic Violence (CPDV) of the Baitik Local Government. The participants discussed the following topics Scheme of action of the CPDV when calling on cases of domestic violence - what a member of the committee should do and in what order after receiving a call or appeal from a victim of domestic violence. This topic was also emphasized in the course of the game sketches, where the participants of the seminar played the roles of the victim and the CPDV members.

The trainer Gulbarchyn Jumabaeva also gave presentations on the topic: Kyrgyz legislation on protection and safety from domestic violence. After this topic, the participants in groups had to independently write down the powers and functions of each of the actors working in the field of protection and defense against domestic violence. For example, what an internal affairs officer should do in the case of domestic violence, what a social worker should do, what a medical worker should do, what kind of assistance a lawyer or advocate can provide. After that, the participants learned how and in what order the CPDV members interact when they go to the place where the domestic violence has occurred or when a victim contacts one of the CPDV members.

In a simplified form, the CPDV members' procedure when a victim comes forward is as follows:

1) The CPDV member who receives a call from the victim should take the victim's name and address, find out if medical help is needed, call the police by dialing 102 or 112, and go to the indicated address together with a police officer or two police officers if the call or complaint is received after 10 pm.

2) Once there, the police officers will immediately separate the aggressor from the victim. The aggressor will be detained for 3 hours in the police station. In a conversation with the victim of domestic violence, the CPDV member clarifies whether medical assistance is needed, clarifies the details of the incident, provides the victim with a safe place to stay (crisis center or a trusted person/relative), and provides first aid.

Participants in the seminars also learned about "Mental Consequences of Gender-Based Violence" and "Portrait of a Perpetrator".

Unfortunately, the issue of domestic violence is confirmed every day. During the seminars for CPDV members, two tragic cases occurred: the death of a young woman and the rape of a 13-year-old girl who had been subjected to violence for a year. And unfortunately, so many people rush to blame the victims for what happened. That is why it is very important to carry out extensive awareness-raising work among parents, schoolchildren, women and men, in organizations. This is an important part of the work of each member of the local committees on the prevention of domestic violence.

Workshops for new CPDVs are being held with financial support from the United States Embassy in the Kyrgyz Republic as part of the project "Increasing Gender Sensitivity of CPDV Members in Chui Region to Reduce and Prevent Domestic Violence".