HYDERABAD: To address domestic violence, in recent times, Hyderabad-based NGO, International Arbitration and Mediation Centre (IAMC) and Invisible Scars Foundation (ISF), conducted a training programme for over 30 social workers on family mediation to address domestic violence and family conflict at the IAMC.
The first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, the seven day, 70-hour workshop brought together 32 participants who were selected after a rigorous screening process from across India-Ajmer, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Delhi, Hazaribagh, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nalgonda, Pune, and Warangal.
The cohort included social workers, psychologists, and law enforcement officers who were certified as family mediators. The initiative was taken to address the urgent need for family mediation in the country as a survivor-centric, timely and community-rooted response to domestic violence and family conflict.
Experts said that domestic violence was only seen as intimate partner or in-law violence, missing the broader landscape of family conflict. Moreover, with over 4.91 lakh domestic violence cases pending till July 2022, the survivors, particularly women from marginalised communities, who were often traumatised by delayed and adversarial legal proceedings. Social workers were trained on the three core aspects of trauma-informed mediation, psychology and gender sensitisation, who will further extend the mediation to the communities.
IAMC registrar AJ Jawad, elaborating further on the programme, said, “At IAMC, we offer mediation and arbitration services for complex civil, commercial, contractual and infrastructure disputes. For the first time, we are empowering non-legal professionals with real-world mediation tools to address family and domestic disputes.
The curriculum covered critical modules on trauma, communication, family law, negotiation, and ethics, with both theoretical and practical assessments. The training programme for the social workers was a unique project as this collaboration was aimed towards building a cadre of trained mediators who combine legal knowledge with social work practice.”
ISF founder and director Ekta Verma underscored the significance of safe space and timely intervention by trained professionals for providing support and aid to victims of domestic violence through legal counselling and further providing skill-based training and employment, especially in the rural areas.
Speaking to TNIE, Ekta said, “We primarily provide emotional and legal counselling to the victims of domestic violence. With this initiative, we wanted to facilitate family mediation at the grassroot levels towards building a survivor-first support system. Identifying the abuse is the first step, which can come in various forms and manners. This is one step forward in our movement for creating safer communities and stronger ecosystems for victims of domestic violence”.