Commonwealth of Dominica Presenter: Yvonne Alexander Assistant Superintendent of Police

INTRODUCTION “Lack of sufficient data on the nature and incidence of violence against women constraints official willingness to adopt policies and provide services to end it.” Source : UNIFEM - A life free of Violence Is Our Right! (2007) Commonwealth of Dominica

SITUATION  Recognition of need to regularly and appropriately measure VAW to allow for effective formulation of policies and programmes  Data dispersed  Collection procedures not standardised Commonwealth of Dominica

OBJECTIVES  Understand the prevalence, magnitude, impact, etc of gender based violence  Develop profiles of victims and perpetrators  Identify groups at risk  Help develop intervention programmes  Monitor the effectiveness of violence prevention and intervention activities Commonwealth of Dominica

DELIVERABLES  Real Time, On Time data/information  Greater insights into the prevalence of gender based violence  Allow for evidence based advocacy  Enable formulation of more effective strategies  Result in greater efficiency in service delivery Commonwealth of Dominica

THE PROCESS  Secure Funding – UNIFEM VAW Project, Dominica  Identification of Entities Involved ◦ Bureau of Gender Affairs – Lead Agency ◦ Dominica Police Force ◦ Social Welfare Division ◦ Ministry of Health ◦ Legal Aid Clinic ◦ Statistical Division ◦ Dominica National Council of Women Commonwealth of Dominica

Identification and agreement on Central Registry Bureau of Gender Affairs Registry to possess capacity to produce statistical reports for disseminated to all partners Commonwealth of Dominica

ACTIVITIES ACQUISITION OF HARDWARE/SOFTWARE  Development of uniformed templates for data collection  Distribution of equipment  Installation of Equipment Commonwealth of Dominica

TRAINING  Selection and Training of relevant personnel ◦ Review of existing systems ◦ Review of forms in use  Training in data analysis Commonwealth of Dominica

SUPERVISION  Monitoring  Evaluation Commonwealth of Dominica

CHALLENGIES ◦ Financial – Funding was inadequate for scale of project ◦ Legal  Police Form part of legislation  Agencies had individual data collection regime ◦ Personnel  Selection  Tenure  Buy in by key decision makers - commitment ◦ Equipment  Servicing, etc ◦ Review and Evaluation Commonwealth of Dominica

VAW Project Progress Report 2007 – 2008  “This remains the most challenging item in the project.”  “A template was designed with the assistance of a Technical Expert, but several issues remain to be resolved, among them a method of collating data from the several different forms now in use by various agencies.”  Recognition of the critical need for dedicated staff. Commonwealth of Dominica

WHAT NEXT  Request for Funding Approved  Consultant Contracted  Review of project currently ongoing Thank You UNIFEM and ECLAC Commonwealth of Dominica