CEJ organized a two-day residential workshop for representatives of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from four districts; Kilinochchi, Batticaloa, Puttalam and Anuradhapura. The workshops were on 27th and 28th September, and were facilitated by Naushalya Rajapaksha, Roshan De Silva, Shani Asokan and Nilusha Goonetilleke. The session covered topics of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE), and Cyber Sexual and Gender-based Violence (CSGBV), and the importance of psychosocial support for victim survivors of CSGBV. The workshop was held at Galle Face Hotel and aimed to capacitate participants, who are generally first responders to cases of CSGBV, with the knowledge and understanding of gender sensitivity when dealing with such cases.
Throughout the workshop sessions and related activities, topics such as victim blaming, vulnerable communities, gender stereotypes, the importance of psychosocial support, and the broad definition of CSGBV were touched upon and discussed in relation to gender-sensitive approaches to dealing with victim-survivors. Participants were also encouraged to share and discuss their own experiences and knowledge on the subject. The event concluded with a brief presentation by Hashtag Generation on their Lexicon.
