Law enforcement personnel and the tourism and hotel sector will strengthen their capacities to attend, act and channel cases of violence against women and girls from Canada and the United Kingdom in their capacity as tourists and other immigration status.
Mexico City, November 22, 2021 – Violence against women and girls does not respect borders, so international cooperation is essential to stop it and uphold the human rights of its victims and survivors.
For this reason, the Embassy of Canada, the Embassy of the United Kingdom and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Mexico today inaugurated the “Training Workshop for Trainers in Detection, Intervention and Assistance to victims and survivors of sexual violence ”.
The joint work between these organizations will strengthen the capacity of the personnel assigned to the Public Prosecutor’s Offices, Secretaries of Security and the tourism and hotel sector to provide responses to the crime of sexual violence. Raising awareness and providing ongoing training are essential to provide adequate care that helps to stop the escalation of violence in its various manifestations.
The workshop prioritizes approaches centered on victims, human rights and a gender perspective. Its objective is to train 75 people in 3 cities: Mexico City; Puerto Vallarta (Jalisco) and Benito Juárez / Cancun (Quintana Roo).
The methodology of the course follows the “train the trainer” model in order to transfer and multiply knowledge between public officials and private sector personnel.
During the opening ceremony, Graeme C. Clark, Ambassador of Canada in Mexico, highlighted that “the care, prevention and eradication of violence against women is a priority for Canada”, and that “this type of Violence is a violation of human rights and a barrier to achieving gender equality, economic empowerment, development and peace, which is why Canada strongly condemns all forms of sexual and gender-based violence wherever they occur. ”
For his part, Mr. Jon Benjamin, H. Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for Mexico, mentioned that “For the United Kingdom it is a commitment and obligation to have the best tools and training to support and protect immediately the human rights of survivors of any type of sexual violence, be they girls, boys, women or men. ”
Meanwhile, Ms. Stacy de la Torre, Head of the UNODC Mexico Programs Area, stated that: “This important workshop brings us together with a common goal: to prevent, address and eradicate violence against women (…) It is important strengthen the response capacity of institutions to provide effective and victim-centered care. The objective, on the one hand, is to channel them properly, but, above all, to stop the violence that is intensifying more harshly against women ”.
The workshop responds to the UNODC mandate to promote justice and prevent crime, specifically violence against women, through technical assistance to Member States. This initiative strengthens access to justice among groups in vulnerable situations; Likewise, it is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 5: Gender equality and 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions.
Download the brochure: Are you a victim of sexual violence?