OSCE trains psychologists from women resource centres in Tajikistan in providing psychological support to survivors of domestic violence

A five-day training course on “Activities of psychologists in domestic violence issues”, organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe concluded on 1 October 2021 in Dushanbe. Twenty-one female psychologists from women’s resource centres (WRCs) and Tajikistan’s Committee on Women and Family Affairs from the Sughd, Khatlon, Rasht Valley regions, and Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan took part.

Participants learned about the psychology of the aggressor, types and features; methods of working with the aggressor; psychological crisis and providing psychological assistance for recovery; violence against children in the family and compiling a psychological report on children who are victims of violence. Other main topic covered at the event was how the WRC’s psychologists can use hotline services to assess the risk and how to best help the person who is suffering.

Fotima Shohzodamuhammadova, a psychologist from Tajikistan’s Committee on Women and Family Affairs in Khorog, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region said: “This training course helped me gain new knowledge on psychological methodologies.” She added that she will use it in her practical work. She also mentioned she found the sessions on classifying types of aggressions against victims particularly informative.

Javohirkhon Davlatova, a psychologist from the WRC in the Rasht District, gained insight into recognizing signs of burnout that psychologists working in this field often face and added that she benefited from advice on working with the psychology of an aggressor.

The OSCE Programme Office will continue to support the Government of Tajikistan in implementing the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence. The Programme Office provides a comprehensive support to victims of domestic violence in the regions through a network of 14 OSCE-established WRCs in close partnership with local authorities.

The current activity is being implemented within the WRCs project of the OSCE Programme Office funded by Norway, the United States of America, Finland, the European Union, Andorra and Germany.