YONECO Drills CVSU on Gender Based Violence

In a bid to ensure that there is comprehensive action in the fight against gender based violence in Chiradzuru district, Youth Net and Counseling-YONECO conducted a training workshop for members of Community Victim Support Unit –CVSU in the areas of Traditional Authorities (T/As) Kadewere and Likoswe in the district.
The training among other things was aimed at imparting knowledge to the CVSUs on issues of gender based violence including, the causes, dangers, the reporting mechanisms and how to handle cases of gender based violence.
Speaking on the sidelines of the training, Community victim unit coordinator for Chiradzuru district, Kingsley Mvuthe said CVSUs are very key in the fight against GBV as they work closely with the people in the communities before the cases reach the police.
Mvuthe said, the CVSUs bridge the gap between the police and the community whereby people are able to go and report GBV cases to the CVSUs and the police get reports on issues affecting the community in as far as GBV is concerned through the CVSUs.
‘’The CVSU work directly with the people hence the need for them to have proper information regarding GBV as well as case management skills’’ said Mvuthe.
He further said most of the times it’s not easy for the police to reach out to the communities with messages on GBV but with the information that the CVSUs have received during the training they will be able to sensitize the communities on issues of GBV.
One crucial aspect in the fight against ending GBV is to ensure that people are aware of what GBV is including the dangers and where they can report to get assistance among others, continued Mvuthe.
Therefore, the training that these people have received will help them in reaching out to their communities to among other things sensitize them on what GBV is and their role in ending the same said Mvuthe.
The CVSUs have also been drilled on some of the gender related laws and child protection laws which will act as a point of reference when handling cases.
One of the participants who is also the Vice Secretary for Likoswe CVSU Leo Sitima, said the training has instilled knowledge that will help them in handling cases of GBV.
‘’I have gained a lot of knowledge through this training which will help me and my friends in dealing with GBV in our respective communities’’ said Sitima.
‘’There are a lot of GBV cases that are happening in our community but it was hard to deal with some of them as we lacked the technical know-how but with this training I believe that things will change added Sitima’’.
YONECO conducted the training under the Essential Gender Based Violence (GBV) Prevention and Services Project which is being implemented in the two T/As with financial support from Engender Health.