On 1 April, 6pm local Taiwan time (GMT+8) / 6am ET, the Garden of Hope Foundation, the Asian Network of Women’s Shelters (ANWS) and the Global Network of Women’s Shelters (GNWS) are organizing a webinar on the topic of “Coronavirus and Women’s Shelters: Policy perspectives on protection of victims of domestic violence during the outbreak”.

Garden of Hope has been running shelters all across Taiwan for 32 years. They are recognised around the world as one of the leaders in running shelters for women. They currently run 7 shelters in Taiwan.

Register and attend here
Read more about the speakers and presentation below.
This webinar will be recorded and shared afterward.

We are fortunate to have secured two highly experienced officials from the Taiwanese government, who have kindly agreed to take time out of their busy schedules to give presentations and answer questions.

Dr. Twu Shiing-jer was Minister for Health and Welfare in Taiwan during the SARS crisis. The lessons learned from the outbreak in 2003 have been credited for helping Taiwan keep COVID-19 under control. Dr. Twu has also served as a legislator and the mayor of Chiayi City.

Chen I-ju is a Section Chief in the Department of Protective Services under the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Ms. Chen’s department handles domestic violence prevention services, the national domestic abuse hotline, and other programs including women’s shelters.

We will also leave plenty of time for updates from shelter organizations around the world and questions from the webinar participants.

The webinar will address the following questions:

1. In lockdown situations, how can shelters and domestic violence prevention organizations respond? What should governments do to address the needs of survivors of violence?
2. What procedures should shelters follow to treat residents who show symptoms of COVID-19?
3. What policies should governments implement to help shelters respond to coronavirus?
4. How can shelters protect the confidentiality of survivors and avoid screening that denies access to services, while at the same time also protect the health of other residents and staff from COVID-19?
5. What lessons did Taiwan learn from SARS that helped prepare for coronavirus?

Register and attend here
This webinar will be recorded and shared afterward.