PEER NETWORK: Gender Violence and Empowerment

PEER NETWORK

Promoter: ISPA, CRL

Partners:

Women of multicultural ethnicity network (W.O.M.E.N in Iceland)

TAIPA Odemira - Organização Cooperativa para o Desenvolvimento Integrado

ACVS - Associação Caboverdiana de Setúbal

Casa do Brasil de Lisboa

EEA Grants: 180,026.00

Total Amount: 200,028.89

Programme:

 

What is the project about?

The project PEER NETWORK: Gender Violence and Empowerment aims mainly at developing an innovative pilot-intervention to promote civic empowerment and engagement of women who are or have been targeted by gender-based violence, domestic violence, discrimination and harassment  – Grupos de Suporte de Pares (Peer Support Groups).  These Peer Support Groups will be created based on the women’s personal experience and in this particular case, the project will focus on women from the so-called vulnerable groups: migrants and from rural areas.

It is an Open Call #4 project: Projects to improve protection of victims of violence against women and domestic violence.

 

Working together for an inclusive Europe

Links
Results

The REDE PERES: Gender Violence and Empowerment project focused on the development of Women survivors’ self-representative networks, prevention, and intervention tools made available for stakeholders to use at the local level or within broader territorial spaces. The main aim was to promote the empowerment and civic participation of women who are/were victims of violence, in particular migrant women and women from rural areas. This project was a university-community partnership, through the active involvement, in all development stages, of the national partners, Casa do Brasil de Lisboa (CBL), the Organização Cooperativa para o Desenvolvimento Integrado do Município de Odemira (TAIPA-CRL), the Associação CaboVerdiana de Setúbal (ACVS), the international partner Women Of Multicultural Ethnicity Network in Iceland (W.O.M.E.N.) and Ispa-Instituto Universitário, as the promoter.

Adaptations were required due to the pandemic’s circulation limitations, therefore the implementation of the activities that were initially planned with an intensive territorial focus, particularly for the partner entities, were extended to broader audiences in the national and international territories. Investment was made in online training with specialists in domains such as advocacy of women survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse, organization of services and support in the community, and the involvement of men in the prevention of interpersonal violence. These actions had a significant influence on the contents of the products developed within the scope of the Rede de Pares project (e.g., Website- http://redepares.eu/ - Peers Network and Prevention manuals, social media, awareness sessions, leaflet, and sociopolitical recommendations).

In total, the project counted with 1103 participations (85.6% women and 14.4% men), six training courses, seven workshops, and eighteen awareness actions were carried out, as well as a final conference. Within the scope of the Project, several products were generated, including a website, four vídeos, four thematic podcasts, three publications (two socio-political manuals and recommendations) as well as intervention support tools (leaflet, the value cards deck, and measures to support training).A pilot project was also developed focused on violence prevention and the promotion of educational achievement (1-6 Y). Based on the dynamics between partners and the promoting entity, two networks were implemented, one of women survivors and another network of young people for the prevention of interpersonal violence.

Within the scope of the network of women survivors, a group of peers was set up, with regular participation of 10 women, and some more with intermittent attendance, mostly migrants, identified through partner organizations, with a series of 56 meetings involving partners and women survivors. Initially, the women survivors were consultants on what a peer network should be, and how it would differ from mutual aid groups. In the subsequent phases, the participants assumed an activist role, and identified their leadership capacities in the development of local and/or national initiatives focused on the development and improvement of support systems in the community. Their personal experiences and perspectives were incorporated into the project's co-constructed products, examples being: (a) the communication strategy; (b) manuals on peer networking and prevention; (c) the socio-political recommendations, as well as (d) the public presentation of their contributions in the various events, workshops, awareness actions, (e) and participation in the intermediate meeting and the (f) final conference [See http:// redepares.eu].

In parallel, the network of young university students for the prevention of interpersonal violence, and gender relationships, actively participated in the preparation of the manual produced and collaborated in awareness-raising actions for other young students.

Regarding communication, regular content was promoted on the website and social media; Regular information sharing and consultation were held with the international partner and the team promoted the presentation of the project at three European conferences, with the purpose of integrating the Peers Network into international networks.