Description
For specialists working in the field of domestic violence in Romania, there is a need to develop a common training program. This project will develop and consolidate services in the field of domestic violence, through the transfer of knowledge and specific skills to the professionals responsible for preventing and combating domestic violence. Specialists from the territorial structures of ministries, local governments and NGOs in the central and North-Western regions will be involved. Through the development of a training program, manual and guide in line with relevant legislation, the project will ensure uniform training of specialists. The project aims to increase the knowledge, skills and emotional capacity necessary for the specialists with responsibilities in preventing and combating domestic violence. The target group of the project consists of professionals having relevant experience in the field of domestic violence from the central and local public administration and NGO personnel (social workers, psychologists, police officers, lawyers, probation counselors, doctors) from the central and North-Western regions of Romania. The project is implemented in collaboration with the Norwegian TISIP foundation, whose role is to share best practices and professional advice for strengthening bilateral cooperation between institutions in Romania and Norway.
Summary of project results
Bearing in mind that domestic violence is one of the most serious problems faced by society, Romanian Ministry of Labor elaborated, in September 2012, the National Strategy for Preventing and Combating DV for the Period 2013-2018. In this context it was highlighted the lack of a coherent and functional legislative framework, the absence of unitary working practices, the insufficient development of services, the lack of specialists and their poor training, as well as the lack of a non-violent culture. The project came to fulfill the training needs of the specialists activating in the field of DV, in order to improve the services offered to the victims. The general objective consisted in the transfer of knowledge and specific competencies to the specialists in view of developing and consolidating services regarding DV. The project objective was reached through specific objectives as follows: 1. The development of a Professional Training Programme for specialists working in the field of DV; the elaboration of the Training Manual for the specialist network, of the Trainer’s Guide and the training of 8 trainers. The training programme contributed to increased knowledge and abilities in working with victims of DV and aggressors for 259 specialists trained, 2. Increasing the efficiency of the inter institutional cooperation between the agencies dealing with preventing and law enforcement of DV by training mixed groups, representing all the professionals with competencies in the field, 3. The collection and exchange of best practices and lessons learned through bilateral cooperation with the Norwegian partner - TISIP, a NGO specialized in training activities. The outcome “Domestic violence reduced” was achieved through specific project outputs, described below. A Training Program for specialists was implemented, thus being trained a number of 259 specialists (social workers, psychologists, police officers/gendarmerie/ criminologists, lawyers, probation counsellors, nurses/doctors), out of which 37 works with Hungarian ethnic minority group, 20 works with Roma ethnic minority group and 35 works with both Hungarian and Roma ethnic minority groups, as well as a number of 8 trainers. Two instruments were elaborated, namely a training Manual for the specialists working in the field of DV and a guideline for trainers. By participating to the project activities 1000 people interested in and working in the field of DV were informed about the issues concerning DV area.
Summary of bilateral results
The Norwegian partner - TISIP Foundation had an important contribution within project activities, such as the coordination of the participation in the project team of Norwegian experts, identification of experts on domestic violence that can contribute to the exchange of experience and know-how and organizing of working meetings with them, with impact on inputs for the Manual and Training Program. The partner had direct impact on the outputs and outcomes of the project, the partnership contributing to the achievement of one of the major overall objective of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009-2014, namely strengthening the bilateral relations between Norway as donor state and Romania. Bilateral transfer of knowledge and experience in training, and preventing and combating domestic violence were provided at common meetings of Romanian and Norwegian partners and into the content of working tools (manual guide) and training program.