OSCE trains Tajik police officers on best practices in responding to cases of domestic violence

A series of training courses organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe to enable police officers to work more effectively with victims of domestic violence and with aggressors and perpetrators of violence concluded on 18 October 2018.  

A total of 65 police officers attended three separate training courses, which commenced on 3 October and were held in Garm, Khujand and Dushanbe. Two Tajik experts and one international expert from Moldova delivered the courses. The participants learned about the national and international practices of dealing with domestic violence cases as well as how to work with victims and perpetrators of violence. The training sessions were organized in co-operation with the Interior Ministry of Tajikistan.

“The police are the first responders to cases of domestic violence. They must be free of gender stereotypes when dealing with cases of violence in the family. The training courses put special emphasis on gender inequality roles and gender issues as one of the contributing factors to this type of violence,” said Vesna Ivanovikj-Castarede, the Gender and Anti-Trafficking Officer at the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe.

Vladimir Kazakov, expert from Moldova, said: “The main goal of these training courses for police officers was to increase the participants’ knowledge with regard to counteracting family violence. During the training the participants learned how to co-operate with other governmental and non-governmental organizations to prevent domestic violence.”