Combating Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and sexual harassment: ECOWAS strengthens the capacities of ivorian actors

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Centre for Gender Development (CCDG), in partnership with the Ministry of Women, Family and Children, has initiated a national training workshop on the prevention of and response to gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual harassment from Thursday 26 to Saturday 28 June 2025 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

As part of the implementation of the regional strategy adopted in 2021 to eradicate violence against women and girls in the community, the three-day meeting brought together judicial, health and social actors with the aim of strengthening their skills and coordinating a holistic approach to the care of victims of violence. The aim was to strengthen participants’ skills in the prevention, detection and management of GBV and sexual harassment.

Speaking at the opening, Moussa Diarassouba, Chief of Staff representing the Minister for Women, stressed the urgency of taking action. “These overwhelming figures are voices crying out for justice, redress and protection. Inaction is no longer an option,” he warned. He called on judicial actors to guarantee access to justice and fight against impunity, including health professionals to become more involved in the medical and psychological care of victims, and social workers to support survivors in their social and economic reintegration.

The ECOWAS Resident Representative in Côte d’Ivoire, Ambassador Fanta Cissé, praised the efforts of the Ivorian government, which have enabled Côte d’Ivoire to take the lead in the fight against GBV. She did not fail to call on everyone to mobilise more strongly against the multiple forms of violence, which have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘The challenges are immense and require the combined efforts of all to achieve zero tolerance for gender-based violence and sexual harassment,’ she said.

For her part, the Director of the CCDG, Ms Sandra Oulaté-Fattoh, said that professionals and other actors have a key role to play in the early recognition, appropriate treatment and support of survivors of such violence. “To fulfil this role effectively, you need adequate training to enable you to recognise the signs and symptoms of gender-based violence and sexual harassment, even in cases where victims do not explicitly disclose their situation. This includes awareness of the different forms of violence, including physical, sexual, psychological and economic, as well as the cultural and social contexts that influence these situations,” she emphasised.

As a reminder, in the ECOWAS region, more than 10% of women experience physical, sexual or emotional violence, often within the family. This situation has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen cases of GBV skyrocket, with an increase of up to 50% in some countries in the region. Côte d’Ivoire alone recorded 9,607 cases of gender-based violence in 2024, affecting 7,950 women and 3,290 children, according to official figures.