The HELP course on Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence was launched for Polish lawyers, in a joint action of the Council of Europe and the Polish Bar Council and the Bar Association of Attorneys at Law of Poland.
The launching event was opened by Justyna Metelska, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission, Polish Bar Council, and Magdalena Witkowska, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission, Bar Association of Attorneys at Law.
Participants could then benefit from presentations from Artur Pietryka and Grzegorz Wrona, lawyer and a certified specialist on domestic violence, on the challenges identified in cases concerning violence against women and domestic violence from the perspective of an attorney.
Following the presentation of the HELP Programme, the participants presented their experienced and followed up with a lively discussion on the practical issues relevant for the effective protection of victims of violence against women in domestic proceedings.
The Polish version of the course will be implemented for the selected group of 40 participants until March 2018. It will be moderated by Anna Mazurczak, HELP Info Point and certified national tutor, who also developed the national adaptation of the course.
The model HELP course on Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence in English, as well as its Polish version, was produced jointly with the Gender Equality Division of the Council of Europe. After the pilot version is implemented for the initial group of lawyers, the Polish version will become publicly available on the HELP online platform.
The course is composed of the following substantive modules:
- Understanding violence against women and domestic violence
- International and European Legal Framework
- Overcoming barriers / access to Justice
- Criminal Justice Response I – Investigation and pre-trial
- Criminal Justice Response II – Trial and sentencing
- Civil Justice Response
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
It is currently available on the HELP online platform in Armenian, Bosnian, English, Georgian, Russian, Slovenian and Ukrainian.
