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Description
The project goal is to increase the availability of specialist counselling centres for women - survivors of intimate partner violence and their children in the Košice region, to make information about the counselling centres and help and support them. To provide it more available to women and improve institutions'' response in cases of intimate partner violence against women. The project partners are responsible for providing and enhancing the existing services, establishing a new counselling centre in Gelnica, and carrying out project activities locally. The project aims to provide protection from gender-based violence, particularly intimate partner violence, to women and their children in existing and new counselling centres in the Košice region. In cooperation with regional coordinators of field social work and local municipalities, the project will train field social workers and community centre social workers in marginalised Roma communities in the Košice region with a view to increasing access of Roma women experiencing intimate partner violence to help and support.
Summary of project results
The project was focused on and designed to benefit women - survivors of intimate partner violence and their children. Violence women and their children experience negatively impacts all areas of their lives - their physical and psychological well-being, their sense of safety, their performance at work or school, their economic situation, and, due to social isolation from people, also their relationships and sources of support. Therefore, women - survivors of intimate partner violence and their children need support services and institutions that will protect them effectively, will help them recover from the experience of abuse and support them so that they can live a life free from violence they have the right to. In other words, they need a good and well-coordinated system of protection, help and support that responds to their specific needs.
Therefore, the project addressed several key issues in the project and the project''s main goals were:
- to increase availability of specialist counselling centres in Košice region so that more women – survivors of intimate partner violence and their children have access to help and support they need near their homes, including disadvantaged groups of women
- to contribute to developing the knowledge and skills of various professionals on violence against women (e.g. the police, the child-protection workers, social workers and field social workers, lawyers) so that they can better protect and help women and their children
- to support networking and cooperation among various professionals, state and public institutions and NGOs
- to raise awareness of women – survivors of intimate partner violence about specialist counselling centres in Košice region and the help and support they provide
Fenestra, Košice was the Grant Recipient and worked together with two other NGOs in Košice region who were the Project Partners – OZ HANA from Spišská Nová Ves and OZ Pomoc rodine from Michalovce.
The biggest challenge the project faced within the project was to find new counsellors to expand the capacity of the project''s existing counselling centres in Košice, Spišská Nová Ves and Michalovce, as well as the newly established counselling centres.
In the process of hiring new employees, the project needed to take into account, among other things, sustainability in the future, after the end of the project, especially in connection with the accreditations the project has for the provision of specialised counselling and professional assistance under the respective laws. In addition, the project needed to take into consideration the requirements for new employees related to their education and work experience that result from these accreditations.
Within the framework of accreditation under Act No.448/2008 Coll. on social services, the requirements include M.A. degree in social work and one year of experience in the provision of specialised counselling for the target group of women – survivors of violence or M.A. degree in psychology and compliance with legal requirements for the performance of social work according to Section 45 (1) (a) of Act No. 219/2014 Coll. on social work – demonstrable work experience that corresponds in its nature with social work as defined by the law before 2015.
Within the framework of accreditation under Act No.274/2017 Coll. on the Protection of Victims of Crime with the registration as an intervention centre, the requirements include M.A. degree in psychology or social work and three years of experience in the field of university studies completed.
Project also needed to consider the wages the project were able to offer for the advertised positions and set the amount in a way sustainable also in the future after the project finished, given the currently available funding of the project''s work with women under the accreditations the project have, and state and public funds linked to them.
The absence of comprehensive legislation at the system level and a mechanism for funding specialist support services for women experiencing intimate partner violence, their children and other persons at risk of domestic violence, as well as the amount of funds allocated within the existing subsidy mechanisms by the state and regional governments, negatively impact sustainability of existing support services, but also building and expanding the capacities of these support services. At the same time, the absence of comprehensive legislation on violence against women also means that some support services that respond to the needs of women, children and others at risk of domestic violence, e.g. legal aid or psychological support, are not covered at all or only partially covered by the currently available state and public funds.
This means that if a counselling and/or an intervention centre decides to recruit a new counsellor or psychologist, it cannot guarantee the stability and continuity of the posts thus funded. Furthermore, these resources do not allow them to offer job applicants a competitive salary. This discourages many people who, although interested in working in this field, need to know that they will be able to keep a job for more than one or two years and will earn a comparable salary to those in other fields where they can find work with the university education and other qualifications they have.
Finally, there are specific funding opportunities, such as Norway, EEA or EU grants, which offer better opportunities for capacity building for organisations running a counselling and/or intervention centre or a shelter for women – survivors of intimate partner violence and their children. Although they offer more flexible conditions, they are also not systemic resources that would allow for continuous and long-term capacity building and sustainability.
Overall, the absence of comprehensive legislation at a system level and a funding mechanism for specialised support services for women experiencing partner violence, their children and other persons at risk of domestic violence has a negative impact on the sustainability of the work of the counselling and intervention centre, which directly affects the availability of quality specialist services for women – survivors of intimate partner violence, their children and/or other groups of survivors of domestic violence.
There were several key activities the project carried out within the project:
- Together with the project''s project Partners, the project established 3 new counselling centres in Kosice region as branches of the project''s already existing counselling centres. Apart from Košice, Spišská Nová Ves and Michalovce, where the already existing counselling centres are based, there are now counselling centres for women and their children also in Rožňava, Gelnica and Trebišov.
- Together, the project provided help and support in the project''s counselling centres to 545 women - survivors of intimate partner violence and their children within the project. The project also did trainings for and joint meetings of all counselling workers and lawyers working with us in the existing and the newly established counselling centres to deepen the project''s knowledge and exchange experience, and to ensure the quality standards of the project''s work continue to be paramount.
- Within the project, there were 19 workshops organized for the police, the child – protection authority and field social workers in all districts of Košice region. A total of 414 professionals took part in the workshops – 79 field social workers, 283 police officers and police investigators, and 52 child-protection workers. The workshops were focused on better understanding of power and control dynamics of intimate partner violence and on practical skills such as how to identify cases of intimate partner violence or how to identify risks to safety of women and children to determine the most effective ways of protection and interventions.
- 3 online hubs for professionals were created – one for , one for and one for representing women – survivors of intimate partner violence in the police and court proceedings. These online hubs are accessible for the professionals on the website of the Grant Recipient and provide useful practical and theoretical information on the issue of intimate partner violence against women that are tailored to the work of the individual groups of professionals. The project used different formats to deliver the information (e.g. videos, Q&A, infographics). After launching the online hubs, the project also organized 3 webinars for the above professional groups to introduce the hubs to them.
- Project used different forms of supporting networking and cooperation among various professionals, institutions and organizations in Kosice region that are actively involved in protecting and helping women – survivors of intimate partner violence and their children (e.g. the police, the child protection authority, lawyers, psychologists, field social workers, representatives of municipalities, health professionals, etc.). These forms ranged from individual meetings with relevant representatives of state and public institutions, municipalities, and other organisations at the local, district and regional levels to meetings of multi-agency working groups in Kosice region the Grant Recipient and both Project Partners coordinate in their respective cities or a networking webinar for lawyers in Kosice region. The aim of these activities was to create space for different professionals to meet, to get to know each other, to exchange information and to discuss their perspectives on how the current system of protection and support for women and their children works.
As a result, 43 municipalities, 77 state administration authorities, and 33 other institutions and organisations from all districts of Košice region took part in the networking and multi-agency cooperation activities carried out within the project. There were 19 meetings of multi-agency working groups consisting of representatives of 26 different institutions, municipalities and NGOs in Kosice region
Together with the project''s Project Partners, the project also issued an update of a practical guide “Support and Protection of Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence in Košice Region” written for various professionals on the issue of intimate partner violence against women and their children, as well as on the competences and the role of state and public institutions and NGOs in protecting and helping survivors of intimate partner violence.
- The campaign the project carried out within the project was focused on raising awareness of women - survivors of intimate partner violence about the project''s counselling and intervention centres. In the campaign (Spustili sme informačnú kampaň #smetuprezeny - FENESTRA), the project created and then distributed via the project''s social media and web site, the project provided useful information about how specifically the project help and support women, what can women expect when they contact us and what the main principles of the project''s work are. The project supported the dissemination of the campaign message and video by posting 93 posts on the social media. The project also had 1500 information flyers about the project''s counselling and intervention centres made, which the project then distributed to institutions and organisations in Kosice region where women usually seek protection from violence and help.
- Informing about the programme, the project and its activities and outputs was another important part of what the project did. The project carried out 3 regional conferences for professional public within the project – one in Košice, one in Spišská Nová Ves and one in Michalovce, for a total of 185 participants. They were focused on increasing awareness about the programme and the project, as well as creating space for developing professional discourse on the issue of intimate partner violence against women and their children.
In addition, the project extensively posted about the project activities and outputs throughout the project duration. The project published 270 project news, articles and posts on the Grant Recipient’s web site, social media of all three organisations carrying out the project and in the media.
Project achieved the following main results in the project:
- Establishing 3 new specialist counselling centres for women – survivors of intimate partner violence and their children means the project have succeeded in increasing the access of women and their children to specialist help and support in all districts of Kosice region. It is particularly important because many women experience high level of control from their abusive partner and need help and support as close to where they live as possible. It crucial also for women who live in remote rural areas, elderly women and women with disabilities, as well as for Roma women living in marginalised communities. It also means that Kosice region is so far the only region in Slovakia having a network of specialist counselling centres in every district.
- Better knowledge and skills of key professionals will contribute to more effective interventions of professionals and institutions responsible for protecting and helping women – survivors of intimate partner violence and their children. Moreover, the online hubs created in the project represent an easily accessible, flexible and attractive way of making information for professionals available at any time.
- Violence women experience on the hands of their current or former partners affects all areas of their lives. Therefore, supporting networking, cooperation and professional discourse among relevant professionals, institutions and organizations contributes to not only better understanding of what women and their children experience when seeking help and protection and what they need, but also to gradually creating a more coordinated response to violence against women.
- It is important that women – survivors of intimate partner violence know about the available help and support the project''s counselling centres provide and also know what to expect and how the project can cater to their needs. The project succeeded in achieving this through the awareness raising campaign and distribution of information flyers.
The key outcomes of the project will have a long-term positive benefit for women – survivors of intimate partner violence and their children.