The Justice Institutes on Gender-Based Violence, a key component of the Voices Against Violence Initiative, is an interactive training program that promotes employing a holistic response – focused on victim safety and offender accountability – to addressing violence against women.
Institutes are country-specific and regionally-tailored to provide participants with a human rights-based approach to identify, investigate, and prosecute gender-based violence crimes in their communities in a manner that focuses on offender accountability and victim safety.
Participants represent diverse sectors involved in the criminal justice system including judges, prosecutors, law enforcement and service providers. They receive training on how and why to collaborate across disciplines, particularly utilizing women leaders and NGO service providers.
Through the Voices Against Violence Initiative, Vital Voices has conducted Institutes, including 50-60 participants per Institute, in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, India, Honduras, Mexico, Nepal, South Africa and the Philippines. Outside of the Voices Against Violence Initiative, Vital Voices has conducted Justice Institutes in three additional countries: Cameroon, China and Rwanda. In 2018, Vital Voices hosted an estimated 274 participants to Justice Institutes around the world.