A three-day workshop to address the growing phenomenon of violence against women in ASEAN countries began on Tuesday in the Philippines, a senior government official said here.

The Training Workshop on Strengthening Capacities of Communities, Practitioners and Policy Makers to Address Violence Against Women (VAW) is part of Philippines' Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) commitment to advance the goals of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said.

"The workshop hopes to identify common approaches that service providers and practitioners can adapt to effectively address violence against women in the Asian region," she said.

The event is being participated by social workers, law enforcement officers and non-government organizations (NGOs) involved in managing cases of victims-survivors of violence against women, from the ten ASEAN member-states.

The gathering aims to provide a venue for participating countries to share their initiatives, strategies, gains, challenges, and recommendations on strengthening capacities of communities, practitioners and policy makers in addressing VAW focusing on victims-survivors, perpetrators, and enabling mechanisms, Soliman said.

"This time, we need to focus on the service providers and stakeholders, particularly on strengthening the capacities of communities, practitioners and policy makers as the next step to eliminate violence against women. We are looking forward to a fruitful sharing of ideas and strategies that will effectively eliminate this social malady in the Asian region," she said.