State Minister for Gender, Family and Social Services Zifleena Hassan has stated the biggest challenge for clients during investigations of domestic violence cases is not receiving a protection order in time. She made the remarks while speaking at the opening ceremony of the Combatting Domestic Violence training programme as the chief guest.
Speaking at the ceremony, State Minister Zifleena noted that domestic violence is a deplorable crime that harms the rights of victims. The state minister expressed concern that some members of their community choose to ignore incidents of domestic violence and that some victims refuse to leave an abusive household. She also said that clients find it difficult to receive their protection orders in time, which results in extending the issue and clients being trapped in an abusive environment. She said caseworkers have a huge responsibility to protect the rights of their clients and that current protection plans need to be improved.
Combatting Domestic Violence is a five-day training programme being conducted by the gender ministry and Family Protection Authority (FPA). The programme began on November 5 to mark 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.