Women’s Affairs Canter (WAC) - Gaza implemented five online sessions via “Zoom” on “Preventing and Reporting Sexual Exploitation and Extortion”.

Representatives of several governmental and non-governmental organizations, community leaders, protection service providers for marginalized women and girls survivors of sexual and GBV violence attended the session which is being held within “Improving Accessibility to Dignified and Safe Multi-sectoral Protection and Prevention Services for Acutely Vulnerable Women and Girls Survivors of Sexual and Gender-based Violence in High Priority Areas in the Gaza Strip” project, which is being implemented in partnership with CFTA and ACHA, and funded by (oPt).

Ahmed Abu Toha, the project coordinator, emphasized the importance of these sessions in raising awareness among stakeholders and duty bearers on the importance of protection and reporting for sexual exploitation, in addition to raising awareness among marginalized women and girls survivors of GBV and sexual violence.

Abu Toha also elaborated on the importance of enabling these target groups and building their capacities to help them have access to comprehensive gender-responsive, multi-sectoral protection and prevention services that are safe and dignified based on the minimum standards for GBV services.

These online dialogue sessions concluded with several recommendations, the most important of which are the necessity of activating the complaints system in governmental and non-governmental organizations, a unified manual for protection against sexual exploitation and extortion, the need to hold more awareness workshops on sexual exploitation that target women and girls, and the importance of imposing administrative procedures on service providers that protect women and girls from sexual violence and GBV.