MEDICAL AND SOCIAL WORKERS OF THE TURKESTAN REGION TOOK PART IN AN ONLINE TRAINING TO HELP VICTIMS OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

40 medical and social workers from the Turkestan region and Shymkent passed a two-day online training in the Kazakh language. The specialists fully studied the practical knowledge and experience of providing medical care to victims of gender-based violence.

Recall that in April 2020, Kazakhstan approved and adopted the first in domestic practice Clinical Protocol for Providing Medical Care for Gender-based Violence, developed by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the support of UNFPA. To put this protocol into practice, the Ministry of Health and UNFPA, with the support of the British Embassy in Nur-Sultan, have developed an online course in Kazakh and Russian for primary health care workers, who are very often the “first point of contact” for survivors of gender-based violence.

According to experts, emergency department workers are usually the first to examine women who have suffered as a result of rape or domestic violence. Health workers visiting prisons, psychiatric hospitals, and nursing homes may be the only source of outside help for victims of abuse.

"Violence against women and girls is a violation of human rights. The immediate and long-term physical, sexual and mental consequences for women and girls can be devastating, including death. Violence negatively affects the overall well-being of women and prevents them from living a full life. It affects their families, their community, and the country as a whole. Health workers are often the first to come into contact with victims of violence. This online training is another step towards ensuring that health responses to gender-based violence can be rights-based and benefit all survivors of gender-based violence, " said Julia Valeze, UNFPA Representative in Kazakhstan and Country Director in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan

It should be noted that 40 participants for the first group were selected from health institutions of the Turkestan region and the city of Shymkent, since it was in these regions that UNFPA conducted and piloted projects on interdepartmental response to gender-based violence.

"In general, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan supports online training on how to respond to gender-based violence as an urgent problem. Violence against women and children is treated as a private matter and goes unpunished. Therefore, the prevention of violence is mandatory. It is the training sessions that help to solve the issues of interpersonal relations, to develop skills and skills for the prevention of violence, " said Rabiga Milibayeva, chief expert of the Department of Organization of the Medical Service of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

 

Press service of the akim of the Turkestan region