Description
All activities of the project are shaped by a vision of a society sensitive to the manifestation of violence in relationships. The project aims at reducing the occurrence of domestic violence and sexual violence (both rape and sexual abuse) in society through both a quantitative and qualitative expansion of services for victims of violence and an enhancement in the capacity of therapy for perpetrators of violence. We want to contribute towards optimising the solution by improving the sensitivity of relevant professional groups and boosting their interest in these areas. We are initiating the founding of a Brno-based interdisciplinary team to tackle the problem of sexual violence, where we shall share examples of best practice and develop our knowledge with the participation of our Norwegian partner. Nationwide sociological research will be carried out, focusing on domestic and gender-based violence as well as perpetrators of violence. The information acquired will also be used in a media campaign. Activities throughout the project are inspired by real needs and in their totality can contribute towards the required social changes.
Summary of project results
We have been working to reduce the incidence of domestic and sexual violence in the Czech Republic. The truly great interest in the services offered has confirmed our belief in the need for activities aimed at victims, their relatives and those who have difficulty controlling their aggression. The key activity of our organisation is professional social counselling; we have gained valuable impulses for its improvement through further education of our staff, such as training by the Norwegian organization FMSO or Ms. Slávka Karkošková, PhD. In our further work we focused on the development of knowledge and competencies of the professional public, education, and instigating lasting changes in society both at the level of the target group’s attitude and overall knowledge of the issue and at the interdisciplinary and system level. We will try to keep up the counselling service in full. We continue our successful cooperation with the City of Brno: an interdisciplinary team to help the victims of sexual violence, which was created thanks to this project, will be integrated (similarly to the interdisciplinary team to help victims of domestic violence, which exists under the law) into the City of Brno’s strategy, which is a significant step towards a general legitimisation of the problem at the local authority level, as well as confirmation of the necessity of specialisation and training of experts in this field.
Summary of bilateral results
Fellesskap mot seksuelle overgrep has worked for 18+ years as an umbrella organization or 18 rape centers based on victim emancipation and self-help. Three representatives of those centers held a week-long seminar for us and others in November 2015 about their activities, the consequences of sexual abuse, assault and rape from a trauma perspective, symptoms of sexually abused children, and how to cope with such a fact once one becomes an adult. Experts assessed it as very beneficial, an opportunity to share experiences and present the most recent research from Norway. This activity strongly supported fulfilling the project aims the area of increasing our employees’ knowledge, improving our client work, and developing other experts’ interdisciplinary collaboration and education. Norwegian practice inspired Persefona to plan the direction of our future efforts. The collaboration was also supported as part of a bilateral collaboration project, “Norwegian Paths out of the Labyrinth of Violence”, supported by Open Society Fund Prague from its “Dejme (že)nám šanci” program, financed by Norway Grants.