INROADS

April—September 2007

Volume Q2/07

WAO work with UNHCR began in 2003 with WAO sheltering two (2) Kurdish families from Iran, who were eventually resettled in New Zealand. After studying our services, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) approached us as an implementing partner to counsel the sexual and gender-based violence survivors in the asylum and refugee communities at their premises in Bukit Petaling.

 

The sessions began with one (1) social worker providing counselling once a week to about three (3) clients. In 2004, two (2) social workers provided counselling and conducted support group sessions for the survivors.

 

In 2005 and 2006, three (3) social workers took turns to provide individual counselling once a week, not only to gain experience but to reduce the incidence of burnout from the intensive counselling sessions. Sometimes there were up to five clients per day, with each session lasting between 30 to 60 minutes.

 

We were again approached by UNHCR to do new programme – incident taking of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) experienced by refugee women. This year every Tuesday, social workers conduct Incident Report taking at the WAO Centre.

 

Incident report taking is basically taking down reports of women who are victims of sexual, physical and psychological violence.

We use the services of an interpreter while the social worker conducts the interview to ascertain the facts of a situation that needed her to have a SGBV incident report.

The social worker would then do an assessment and if the need arises, refer her to various agencies such as a medical facility or to UNHCR for further action. Sometimes we refer them to their respective communities and at other times        we follow up with counselling by a WAO social worker.

 

UNHCR uses the report as an introduction to the client’s problems and further seek elaboration from the contents for their interview, so as not to traumatize her in re telling her ordeal all over again.

 

Besides this programme WAO also does community outreach work through SGBV Community Training for Myanmar Refugee Men and Women Leaders

 

As part of UNHCR ‘s efforts to get NGOS to work with and for the refugee community,  WAO was asked to raise awareness through training programmes for both men and women on SGBV for the various Myanmar communities around Malaysia .

 

The  topics covered are -  What are rights and needs, UN conventions,  functions of UNHCR and how one can access them, Sex and Gender, different types of violence under SGBV,  feelings of a victim and public perceptions, helping processes and techniques, how the leaders and community members can intervene and charting out the various community resources. 

 

Our next step is to strengthen advocacy in order to get the Malaysian government to recognise the rights of asylum seekers and refugees.  

Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO)

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WAO’s work for Refugees