Disclaimer Combating the pandemic within the COVID-19 pandemic: violence against women and girls

Webinar on COVID-19 and gender-based violence Combating the pandemic within the COVID-19 pandemic: violence against women and girls Summary The OSCE Secretariat’s Programme for Gender Issues and the OSCE Transnational Threat Department’s Strategic Police Matters Unit, with the support of the Albanian OSCE Chair, organized a webinar to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on violence against. [...] Main points raised by expert speakers Iris Luarasi, Director of the Albanian National Counseling Line for Women and Girls, Counseling line for Men and Boys and First Vice-President of GREVIO at the Council of Europe The Albanian national helpline for victims of violence against women (VAW) and domestic violence (DV) continued to operate 24/7 and had a 60 % increase in calls. [...] The Ministry of Labour and Social Development received support in mainstreaming gender into the governments COVID-19 response, and UNFPA and UN Women conducted a rapid assessment on the impact of COVID-19 on women and vulnerable groups. [...] Examples of these changes include: swift contacting of the victim after the crime has been reported; appointment of a victim counsel, who supports the victim throughout the whole process; setting up of briefing sessions with prosecutors to discuss the case; investing in the training of first responders within the police force in order to better secure initial evidence in cases of domestic violence. [...] Awareness raising Important to engage opinion makers and community leaders to provide correct information and messages to local communities and decision makers with regard to the impact of COVID-19 on women and girls.