Training of Trainers Workshop on Women's Access to Justice

The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement carried out a 3-day training of trainers’ (TOT) workshop on improving women’s access to justice from February 18 to 20 in Suva.

The workshop was funded by the European Union (EU) through the Balancing the Scales: Improving Fijian Women’s Access to Justice project.

“This workshops follows FWRM’s nation-wide information sessions on women’s access to justice which gave us the opportunity to reach out to the communities and strengthen our partnerships with them,” said FWRM Executive Director Nalini Singh.

“The prevalence of violence against women and girls in Fiji continues to be a concern and there is a need for a collective effort to raise awareness and advocate for change,” she said.

FWRM’s recent 3-year analysis on sexual violence against women and girls found that the average age of victim/survivors of rape cases was less than 17 years old from 2016 to 2018.

The workshop was aimed at empowering community leaders and trainers to advocate for women’s access to justice and share the information and knowledge back to their respective communities. During the workshop, participants explored different thematic issues including gender equality and human rights and the basic understanding of the law and research to promote and protect women’s human rights,

The TOT brought together 12 participants from the North, West and Central division including representatives from the Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises & Development (FRIEND) Fiji, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), Youth Champs 4 Mental Health, House of Colours, Fiji Trades Union Congress Women’s Committee and Viseisei Sai Health Centre.

Following the TOT, FWRM will provide small grants for the partnering organisations to utilise the skills and knowledge they’ve gained to carry out their own trainings within their communities.

“We’re grateful to be able to work with these organisations and their interest in this training. FWRM hopes to continue this engagement to promote women’s access to justice in their communities,” said Ms Singh.

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