“When it comes to the elimination of domestic violence, the Indigenous community should not be forgotten.” Words from Gayle Timpico, who works for the Mulokot Foundation. Ms. Timpico recently completed the “train the trainers” phase of the ‘Indigenous Communities against Domestic Violence’ project.
This project is an initiative of the Projekta Foundation in collaboration with the Association of Indigenous Village Chiefs in Suriname (VIDS) and is funded by the UN Trust Fund to end violence against women. Temikaidoe Makiloewala, who has a seat on the Mulokot board, also completed this project.
The project came about because the chief of an Indigenous village raised a call for action in regards to domestic violence in Indigenous communities.
The problem is that there is a lack of resources and capacity for targeting this issue in Indigenous-and tribal communities. Often times, there are no police stations or domestic violence support offices within the villages. Indigenous peoples often times do not have the same means to combat domestic violence as those living in urban areas. The purpose of the “train the trainers” process is to ensure that most villages at the least have a first focal point for victims of domestic violence.
Ms. Timpico and Ms. Makiloewala together with other women from all Indigenous regions in Suriname, have received extensive training from January 17th to January 22nd 2023. In the next phase of the project, they will then train local women from the Indigenous villages in becoming focal points for domestic violence victims.
To end domestic violence, we all need to be part of the solution.
The Mulokot Foundation has been committed to doing its part in championing the fight for the elimination of violence against especially women and children as they are the most vulnerable group according to the statistics. This is one of the main raisons why we vehemently support the ‘Indigenous Communities against Domestic Violence’ project.
