Participants at the Marrakech training on sexual assault and rape
Women's Program Director, Rosalyn Park, and Executive Director, Robin Philliips, training on sexual assault and rape
At the invitation of partner Mobilizing for Rights Associates (MRA), The Advocates traveled to Marrakech, Morocco to train civil society and systems actors on rape and sexual assault. Executive Director, Robin Phillips, and Women's Program Director, Rosalyn Park, trained 23 participants on monitoring and documenting state responses to sexual assault and rape. The two-day training addressed international definitions and state obligations on violence against women, dynamics of sexual assault, best practices by systems actors, issues of force, lack of consent and affirmative consent, and proving rape without rape kits or evidence of physical injury.
The training is part of MRA's three-year project to build the capacity of civil society to monitor the health care, law enforcement, and justice systems, and take advantage of current opportunities, to promote best practices in the State response to Sexual Violence against Women (SVAW). The project will ensure the NGO systems and frameworks necessary to effectively monitor existing laws on SVAW, as well as the eventual implementation of Morocco's recently enacted VAW law.