CEHAT and UN WOMEN India collaboratively organised a State-level consultation and dissemination meeting on strengthening gender-based violence prevention and response ecosystem in Goa on 27th March, 2025. This consultation was the culmination of a year-long program focused on collaborative ideation and action against the issue of gender-based violence in the state. We hoped to encourage discussion on best practices and multi-stakeholder strategies to address gender-based violence prevention and response. More than 50 representatives from government and civil society joined the consultation. Through two panels centered around prevention and response, we explored current successes, gaps, and opportunities to foster an environment that will continue to enhance the safety and inclusion of women in the years to come. On this occasion, CEHAT also felicitated its Gender Champions and Safety Champions, state representative and civil society leaders who worked closely with us for the past one year in this engagement.
The Honourable Director of Directorate of Women and Child Development, Goa, Shri Manuel Barreto, delivered the keynote address. Smt Poonam Bharne (Director of Department of Prosecution), Smt. Sucheta Dessai (SP Training, Goa Police), Shri. P. Pravimal Abhishek (Director, Directorate of Transport), Shri Peter Borges (Assistant Professor of Social Work, Goa University), Ms. Archana Singh (Center In-Charge, OSC Lucknow), Ms. Mini Ribeiro (Journalist and Former President of WICCI Rural Tourism), SHG Leaders Smt. Chitra Kshirsagar, Smt. Shanta Bedi Bhave, and Smt. Smita Shinde graced the consultation as panelists.
