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Participants from across the region gathered at the Accra Beach Hotel for the start of the two-day IMPACT Justice ‘Enhancing Support To Victims of Crime’ training course.

Training for persons who work with crime victims

Regional police officers and others who may have to deal with persons affected in a traumatic way by crime, are amongst the persons currently undergoing a “Supporting Victims of Crime” training course at the Accra Beach Hotel.

The Canadian Government-funded Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice) Project is hosting the training sessions,formally entitled “Enhancing Support to Victims of Crime: Building Capacity Through Community Partnerships”.

The programme, which started yesterday and runs today as well, is being attended by police officers of varying ranks along with gender specialists, counsellors, community development officers, social workers and others who work with victims of crime. Participants are from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.

The training will address identification of victim needs, first response to individual victim types, crisis intervention with victims of crime, the importance of collaboration with the community and enhancing response to victims of crime.

The two-day training course is being held under the chairmanship of Professor Velma Newton, Regional Project Director of IMPACT Justice. The facilitators of the training sessions are, Donna Watson-Elliott, Manager of the Ottawa Police Victim Crisis Unit, and Constable Ryan McEachran of the Ottawa Police Services in Canada.

(RSM)

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