Domestic violence care professionals from Transdniestria and Gagauzia complete OSCE-supported workshop on how to support violence victims
Twenty domestic violence care professionals from Transdniestria and Gagauzia learned how to break the cycle of abuse in a co-dependent relationship at an OSCE-supported workshop in the left-bank city of Tiraspol from 23 to 25 August 2018.
During the training session, psychologists, social workers, and shelter staff discussed causes of co-dependency in relationships, the psychological profiles of persons inclined to co-dependency, and counselling methods for dependent and abusive partners. The leader of the workshop – a family counsellor and a former shelter psychologist - used coaching techniques and role play exercises focusing on self-control and self-awareness to empower training participants better help individuals trapped in abusive relationships.
“The trainer was able to establish an open conversation and was sensitive towards the learning needs of the trainees. She taught us how to understand the feelings of one another, which is a very important technique in working with our beneficiaries,” says Olga Purakhina, Director of the NGO ”Vialex” from Ribnita, which was a co-organizer of the workshop.
This capacity-building effort built upon a series of workshops last year, when the Mission trained around 110 shelter staff from both banks, namely psychologists, social assistants, and other members of district multi-disciplinary teams from Chisinau, Comrat, Drochia, Causeni, Ribnita, and Tiraspol. The positive feedback from participants and requests for more training opportunities from other maternal centres and shelters prompted the Mission to further enlarge the number of trained specialists working to counsel victims of domestic violence across Moldova, including the left bank.
The activity falls under the Mission’s mandate and seeks to raise awareness about rights of disadvantaged and minority groups by strengthening the capacities of specialists working with such groups from the left bank and the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia.