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Description
Violence against women is considered to be one of the main obstacles to gender equality and one of the most widespread forms of human rights violations. However, it is still not yet sufficiently perceived by Czech society as a human rights issue in its full breadth, roots and consequences as it is understood by international definitions, standards and documents. Violence against women is a problem not only for women but for society as a whole.
The persisting gender stereotypes are a major obstacle to efficiently preventing domestic and gender-based violence and achieving gender equality. The Action Plan for the Prevention of Domestic and Gender-based Violence 2019-2022 also draws attention to this fact. Awareness-raising campaigns are an important tool for prevention. Therefore we will run an information campaign to 1) raise awareness of forms of gender-based violence (including online violence) and 2) combat gender stereotypes by targeting a change in attitudes towards violence against women in the whole society, with a special focus on men as a key but still not enough addressed group.
We will fulfill the goal of the campaign by using various means of communication – videos, spots, documentary movies, podcasts, information graphics, photographs and posters, workshops and webinars. Outputs will be created in different language versions or subtitled in various languages so that migrant and minority target groups can also benefit from them. With the involvement of our partner – ČOSIV – we will increase the campaign´s potential among pupils and students, their parents, schools and pedagogical staff. Target groups also include journalists who form language used to inform about violence against women and thus further influence society´s attitudes. The implementation of the project will positively impact the prevention of secondary victimization and increase the motivation of victims to leave the violent relationship at an early stage.
Summary of project results
The only effective way to eliminate domestic violence is through violence prevention. That is why the project focused on multiple target groups. From teachers, pupils and students to the general public. And also men, where male celebrities called to be #menagainstviolence too. Because most men don''t commit violence and they should make it clear to those who do that violence is never okay and doesn''t belong in society. More men started to join the campaign.
The project promoter organized an awareness raising campaign with the aim to prevent and stop violence. A webinar for teachers, an art competition for students, videos for teenagers and a documentary were realized. The main campaign Be #MenAgainstViolence was implemented in the Prague metro. The project promoter shared videos, photos and reruns with #MenAgainstViolence personalities. Frames with the winning pupils'' works were in metro cars and trains across the Czech Republic. The project promoter organised a workshop for journalists and Silent Witness event on the floor of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Members of Parliament walked past the sculptures and rollups of the project to the main hall for the meeting. They took turns reading the stories of women murdered by their partners.
The information campaign focused on raising awareness of forms of gender-based violence, including online violence, and combating gender stereotypes. The campaign also reached out to men as a key but still under-reached group. The project promoter shared informational 10 videos and spots, documentary, podcasts, information graphics. The campaign reached 4,978,762 people. The purpose of the project was to raise public awareness about domestic violence, its causes and to combat gender stereotypes that result in secondary victimization of victims. Given the intervention of the campaign, the project contributed to the prevention of various forms of violence, reaching a wide public from schools, to potential victims, to legislators and journalists. The outputs of the project continue to be usable for prevention, seminars, teaching and posted on the project website.