Building Resilience to Address Domestic Violence Erasmus Project

Project Title

Building Resilience to Address Domestic Violence

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; Access for disadvantaged; Health and wellbeing

Project Summary

Gender equality is one of the cornerstones of European policy and forms one of the key targeted of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, we must accept that gender equality will never be achieved, while there is persistent and wide-scale gender-based violence against women. At the time of writing this application, most of us are at home; forced into a lock-down to protect ourselves from the spread of COVID-19. Hashtags including #staysafestayhome are trending on social media platforms. However, unfortunately, not everyone is safe in their own homes. Their homes are the setting for where violence, abuse and control take place. One of the hallmarks of an abusive relationship is referred to as ‘victim isolation’. In this pattern of behaviour, the perpetrator will try to isolation the victim; weakening ties between the victim and their family or friends; reducing contact with the outside world to prevent the victim recognising that the perpetrator’s behaviour is wrong and making it more difficult for the victim to ask for help. While the lock-down is necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it compounds the dire reality for domestic violence victims across the world. They feel helpless, vulnerable, voiceless.

In 2011 in Northern Ireland, the PSNI reported that they were responding to a case of domestic violence every 23 minutes. One in four women in Northern Ireland report being a victim of domestic violence at some point in their life; with one of the most harrowing statistics being that 30% of all domestic violence starts during pregnancy (MBK Law, 2017). Domestic violence is the second most reported crime in Lithuania, after burglary. Between January and October 2019, over 35,000 reports of domestic violence were made to police, of which 80% were crimes against women. In Portugal, in 2017, there were some 23,753 cases of domestic violence reported, of which 20,186 of the victims were women (EIG, 2015). The severity of violence in Malta ranks as one of the worst in the EU (EIGE, 2016); between 2010 and 2018, there were 9,682 cases of domestic violence reported in Malta, with 10,585 potential victims – 23% of reported cases were against men with the remaining 8,160 victims all women. A 2014 survey of 10,000 German women, found that 37 % of all interviewees have experienced at least one form of physical attack or threat of violence by a partner or a non-partner since the age of 16 (FRA, 2014). In Cyprus 22% of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by current and/or previous partner, since the age of 15; in Ireland the figure is 26% of all women (FRA, 2014).

There is real need to educate all members of society about domestic violence if we are to eradicate it. Education and awareness at the stages if prevention and early intervention are key measures that are required to support victims to identify unhealthy behaviours and relationships; to build their resilience to address controlling behaviour and inequalities in relationship before it becomes abuse and also to address the stigma of domestic violence and the disturbing propensity of victim-blaming that persists across European society. One in five Europeans hold victim-blaming views, agreeing that women make up or exaggerate claims and that violence against women is often provoked by the victim (DG Justice, 2016). Across the consortium, victim-blaming is most prevalent in Malta (47%), Cyprus (44%) and Lithuania (42%); however it is a common mindset in each partner country with 30% of respondents from the UK, 24% from Germany, 23% from Ireland and 19% from Portugal engaging in victim-blaming (Special Eurobarometer, 2016).

Domestic violence against women not only impacts their psychological, emotional and physical well-being, it also inhibits their active participation in civic, social and economic life. When thinking about the consequences of domestic abuse, it is important to consider the impact (mental, emotional, physical, social and financial) on the individual survivor and their family and children, and also the wider societal costs including the costs of police, health and other service responses. Domestic violence also has profound economic impacts on European countries; costing an estimated 259 billion euro per year across the EU; with violence against women costing 226 billion of that sum (EIGE, 2014).

Domestic violence devastates families and communities across Europe. Families are meant to be the bedrock of our society. They are a safe environment for children to grow and develop; surrounded by care and love. When the bedrock is fractured, society crumbles. It is for this reason that the EMPOWER project aims to support these families, especially families at-risk of violence, to build their resilience to prevent domestic violence; through the development of unique, age-appropriate education materials that can be applied to a family-learning environment, to empower all family members to address violence in the home.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 217578 Eur

Project Coordinator

Ballybeen Women’s Centre Ltd & Country: UK

Project Partners

• Rightchallenge – Associação
• VsI Socialiniu inovaciju centras
• Skills Zone Malta co. Limited
• CENTRE FOR ADVANCEMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY LTD-CARDET
• Hauptstadftallee 239 V V UG (Skills Elevation FHB)
• Spectrum Research Centre CLG