UNOCI trains actors in the fight against sexual violence in Tonkpi region

Some 20 members of NGOs, the Legal Clinic and government agencies in the Tonkpi region on 7 December 2014 ended a 3-day training course on legal proceedings against perpetrators of sexual violence organized by the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI).

"This shameful and dehumanizing deviant behavior which infringes the physical and morale integrity of women and which constitutes a serious violation of human rights must be stifled by the putting in place of an efficient mechanism for legal action," the Prefect of Man, Rene Angama said at the opening of the training.

UNOCI Human Rights officer Mohamed Atahier recalled the objective of the course which he said was to enable participants acquire the skill needed to monitor the progress of court proceedings related to sexual violence so as to increase their output in the field. "It is a way for UNOCI to encourage Cote d'Ivoire in its fight against impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence.

Topics discussed at the training included observing and reporting on court cases related to sexual violence techniques for monitoring human rights violations, involving the UN in the fight against sexual violence in conflict situations.

At the end of the course which was conducted by UNOCI's Mohamed Attahier and a representative of the Court of First Instance in Man, Marie Clementine Guei Tiatine said she thought the workshop had enabled her to know the basics of legal proceedings related to sexual violence.