On Monday, January 20th, The Center for Women’s Legal Researches, Counselling and Protection (CWLRCP) held a workshop with the directors of police stations from all five governorates of the Gaza Strip, in the presence of the Director of the Family and Child Department of the police. The workshop aimed to reach an agreement on mechanisms for dealing with abused women who file complaints with police stations. This workshop was a follow-up to the outcomes of a training course conducted by the Center in September 2019 on “Mechanisms and Methods of Dealing with Abused Women” for (50) female police officers from the Women, Child and Public Relations Department, and investigators who receive complaints from abused women.

Ms. Zainab Al-Ghunaimi, Director of the Center, managed the workshop, where she defined the nature of the Center’s work according to its various goals and programs. She also focused on the (“Hayat” Center for the Protection and Empowerment of Women and Families) project, which provides shelter, psychological, social, and legal support, and economic empowerment services to abused women. The discussion covered defining the categories of beneficiaries of the shelter department’s services, the type of services provided to them and their children, and ways to solve their problems in coordination with the Family and Child Department of the police.

An extensive and fruitful discussion took place during the workshop on the importance of protecting abused women, maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of complainants’ data, and also mechanisms for referral between police stations and the “Hayat” Center project, especially if the complainant’s life is threatened, in order to ensure her safety in the shelter section of the center.

At the end of the workshop, the attendees emphasized the importance and necessity of joint cooperation between police stations and The Center for Women’s Legal Researches, Counselling and Protection (CWLRCP), to serve and protect abused women. Everyone agreed on the recommendation that all abused women who file a complaint at the stations be referred to the Family and Child Department of the police, which in turn will communicate and transfer the case according to its specific needs and in consultation, either to the governmental safe house or to the “Hayat” Center project.