Informing the population plays an important role in preventing and identifying the problem of violence. A serious tool in the work is information meetings, which are attended by more than 150 people every month in all ten municipalities.
Information meetings removed the difficulties of identifying crisis families, victims of domestic violence. The number of applications has increased, the number of people willing to help has increased. This confirms that the information is reaching the addressee correctly.
Local self-government has a special place in the coordinated scheme. All resources take the complete form in a common chain of assistance in a collaborative format,
This is how Mariam and Teona (conditional names) became the characters of success stories. The changes began with receiving information.
They live far from each other, in different cities, but all episodes of their lives are almost the same. They married with love. They seemed to be living happily for a year. Then conflicts began. They thought they would overcome. As often happens, they could change nothing and became dependent on stereotypes, on the mood of others.
One of the meetings at Women Support Centers gave both women an opportunity to receive the services they needed. The mobilizers used referral mechanisms, involved a psychologist and a lawyer.
The result also appeared: Mariam started a job and earned an income. Now she is preparing for the court in order to protect her rights guaranteed. Changes also happened in Teona's life. The episode of despair is finally over.
An example of women empowerment can be found in all ten Women Support Centers. The Department of Child Protection and Support of Local Self-Government, Social Service, Gender Equality Council consider the Women Fund "Sukhumi" as a reliable partner and their redirected beneficiaries become active users of the Fund's services. And then they start thinking about a new, violence-free life...
Photo: online meeting of the mobilizers of the Women Support Centers
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)