Violence against women constitutes one of the most brutal violations of human rights worldwide. The vast majority of cases of physical, psychological/emotional, sexual violence against women as well as various forms of controlling behaviour occur within the family domain and the women victims of violence and their children have to leave their houses

in the hope to escape violence, rescue their lives and be provided with adequate protection and security. An international experience shows that the majority of women who get themselves caught in a similar situation usually apply to various social support centres as well as shelters where they can temporarily reside until they find a proper job and living space or until being assured that the cases of violence they faced have been brought to a halt. 

The objectives in establishing such centres are usually as follows:
 
-  to prevent violence against women and children;
- to provide physiological and legal counseling to victims of domestic violence;
-  to provide financial assistance if needed
 
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It is with regret that Azerbaijan is still among the countries that do not provide similar facilities to the victims of domestic violence. The establishment of such centers is among the priority issues on the agenda of UNFPA and respective state agencies.  
 
UNFPA’s Combating Gender Based Violence in Azerbaijan Project and State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan organized two-days training on organizing, running, monitoring and evaluating the crisis centers for women - victims of domestic violence as one of the initial steps in order to achieve this purpose,. The training was conducted by the team of international experts with expensive experience in the field, Prof. Dr. Ayşe Akın, the Director of the Women-Child Health and Family Planning Research and Implementing Centre of Başkent University, Ebru Özberk Anlı, expert from the Women-Child Health and Family Planning Research and Implementing Centre of Başkent University, and Dr.Sarp Uner, from theDepartment of Public Health under the Faculty of Medicine of Hacettepe University.
 
In her opening speech the Deputy Chairwoman of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mrs Sadagat Gahramanova emphasised that such initiatives support efforts directed at prevention of violence against women. The participants of the training were from the State Committee on Family, Women and Children’s Affairs,  Ministry of Health, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, Ministry of Youth and Sport, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education, and Ombudsman Office. The participants were provided with comprehensive information on gender based violence, its causes and consequences as well as its negative impacts on the psychological state of children. The Turkish experts mainly focused on the importance of establishment of support centres for victims, international standards of support to victims, different models of rehabilitation centres with particular emphasis on Turkey’s experience, operationalization mechanisms of rehabilitation centres and legislation on gender based violence.  
 
While emphasising the effectiveness of the event during training evaluation, the participants also stressed out that more emphasis should be placed on awareness raising activities as well as on the elimination of root causes of the problem. Introduction of specific GBV courses for social workers as well as other service staff to be employed at the centres with reference to best international practices was also among the priority areas identified in this respect by the participants.