Approaching violence in the Society

Equipping volunteers with important skills for cases of Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV).

2 August 2016

Irbid, North Jordan -  In early August the Jordan River Foundation and ACCTS collaborated to host a training session for works and volunteers in the social field. Our objective was to help women become more aware of acts of violence, their trends and ways in which it can be prevented. Many women attendees were already volunteers in associations and institutions of the civil society in the Irbid region. Hence, the information they received at this session was particularly beneficial for them.

According to a UNHCR report published in February 2016, Irbid is home to around 140,000 urban Syrian refugees living amongst Jordanian families. Understandably, this has caused a shift in village dynamic and a rise in violence has been recorded in the area.

For this reason, some main goals of our session were to: identify the different types of violence, correct some wrong perceptions about violence against women, and provide participants with the necessary knowledge of how to manage cases of violence.

In our session, our attendees were able to share their opinions and experiences with violence in order to recognize ways in which it can be avoided. Moreover, the concept of violence as a Eastern stereotype was raised as a negative aspect of the Arab patriarchal society system whereby women are subjected to the secondary roles of society.

In spite of the difficult topic being addressed, many women felt uplifted by the training because it provided effective methods to recognize types of violence and how to deal with it. Creative material was also given to attendees so that they could psychologically approach violence in society with the right mindset and attitude. Therefore, this gave them the tools to both understand and act in the most effective manner to benefit society.