$$ for Judiciary sensitising programme

AN estimated US$116,000, donated by a Finnish Trust Fund through the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), will be pumped into a project aimed at sensitising the Judiciary to the needs of victims of domestic and gender-based violence. As part of the project, six workshops, targetting key players in the handling of domestic and gender-based violence will be held from October 2-9. The project, organised by the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the IDB and the Judicial Education Institute, is aimed at helping court staff, from magistrates to probation officers, to understand what survivors of domestic and sexual violence endure in and out of the courtroom, and thereby provide better support for victims.

The idea for the project stemmed from the growing number of victims of domestic violence who seek the protection of the courts and the number of complaints from them about the treatment they receive within the court system. Technical assistance and expertise will be provided by the international consulting company Ramboll-Finnconsult and training and a resource manual is being developed by a team from the Caribbean, the US and Finland.