The Women’s Program works with partners at home and in other countries to provide trainings on women’s human rights issues and violence against women. The Women’s Program provides general trainings on the issue of violence against women as a human rights violation to community members, human rights advocates, journalists and direct service providers. We also provide specific training to police, prosecutors, judges, and lawyers on effective strategies to address violence against women in legal systems. These trainings include information on drafting and lobbying for legislation and implementing new laws on violence against women. Our country-specific human rights reports provide the critically needed context and information for both trainers and training participants. These reports provide a detailed analysis of a country’s legal system and the gaps and weaknesses in the system’s response to violence against women. Our reports on violence against immigrant women and human sex trafficking in Minnesota also provide the basis for trainings on these issues here at home. 

All of our trainings draw on Minnesota’s thirty years of legal reform on violence against women.  The Advocates frequently invites legislators, judges, prosecutors, police and other experts on legal reform on violence against women to accompany our staff as trainers. These experts can offer their unique knowledge, gained through many years of experience, to communities where legal reform on violence against women is just beginning.

The Advocates also reviews and comments on draft legislation regarding violence against women, both nationally and internationally.  We have recently commented on the proposed legislation for the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) and on draft domestic violence legislation in Moldova, Montenegro, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Tajikistan, and Bulgaria.