Program Trains Taxi Drivers and Locksmiths to Help Victims of Domestic Abuse

A project has launched in the Commonwealth aimed at training people – from taxi drivers and locksmiths, to teachers and medical staff – how to better recognize domestic abuse, as well as how to intervene and help victims where needed.

“This is everybody’s business,” says Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “It’s an opportunity to say to people ‘There is a need for you to assist because if you don’t intervene … that person’s life may be at risk.'”

The goal is to create a network of trained bystanders in the Commonwealth – a group of 54 countries – that can take action to help victims when witnessing signs of abuse. The training intends to fulfill a wider program in partnership with the NO MORE Foundation where a global network of 1,400 organizations aim to tackle domestic abuse.