US applauds gender efforts in Azerbaijan

The conference "Creating an Effective Response Mechanism for Combating Domestic Violence in Azerbaijan", which was held in Baku, positively assessed the government's efforts in combating gender violence. "I want to applaud the government of Azerbaijan for its efforts to resolve this issue. An important achievement is the adoption of the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence," said William Gill, Deputy Head of the Mission of the US Embassy, ​​expressing the hope that through joint efforts to resolve this issue an effective national referral mechanism will be created to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.

The conference was an important milestone in the program "Combating gender violence in Azerbaijan" (GBV), funded by USAID and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The GBV Program aims to support the development of an inter-agency coordination mechanism for the prevention and response to the gender dimensions of violence in Azerbaijan.

"It is commendable that the Azerbaijani government is determined to ensure full protection of women from all forms of violence. The adoption of the Domestic Violence Prevention Act in 2010 confirms that domestic violence cases will no longer be allowed as issues of internal family affairs, "said UN Resident Coordinator and UNFPA Representative in Azerbaijan Ghulam Ishakzai.

He also noted the need for legal reforms to be accompanied by an effective prevention and transfer mechanism to provide assistance to victims of violence.

Chairperson of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs, Hijran Huseynova, reported on the preparation of the drafts of the National Action Plan to Combat Domestic Violence and Family Strategies, which cover the areas of struggle against selective abortions, early marriages and domestic violence.

At the same time, she noted the importance of implementing laws in the gender field. In this context, she noted that the judges, when making decisions, should also refer to international legal acts, in addition to the national legislation, to which Azerbaijan joined.

During the conference, representatives of various government agencies and NGOs discussed the negative impact of gender violence on society. Earlier this month, the GBV program also launched an online database that systematically collects data from different regions, which allows the use of an evidence-based intervention strategy to combat gender-based violence. -0--