Women Support Centers (530)
Women Support Center these are the branches of the Fund “Sukhumi” in Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, Khoni, Terjola, Senaki, Poti, Khurcha / Koki (Zugdidi Municipality), Lanchkhuti, Ozurgeti, created since 2009. The centers are designed to strengthen women, provide social, psychological, legal assistance to women - victims of violence and to crisis families in a difficult life situation. They promote to the protection of women's rights and ensure their socio-psychological rehabilitation.
Today the campaign of "16 active days against violence towards the women" have started Therefore, the mobilization meetings that took place in November were dedicated to this campaign. The mobilizers of the Women Support Centers of Senaki, Kutaisi, Khoni, Khurcha / Koki (Zugdidi municipality) and Pakhulani (Tsalenjikha municipality) spoke about the history of the campaign and its importance, as well as about the services existing in concrete municipalities.
Despite the fact that Georgian legislation, international laws and conventions ratified by the state prohibit discrimination, there are still frequent violations of rights and violence against women. The issues that would be advocated were raised at the meetings.
The small project of Ozurgeti Women Support Center is ongoing – in frames of the project, the meetings of a psychologist and a lawyer with the educators of preschool premises was held. The meetings were important, as the participants are informed about their responsibilities.
There was also a meeting with members of the group, which was created in frames of the project, and is responsible for identifying and responding to the facts of violence.
Women initiative groups of the Fund “Sukhumi” carries out monitoring of domestic violence through the Gender Responsive Early Warning System (GREWS).
Field monitors have been conducting surveys in Tskaltubo, Kutaisi and in the villages along the conflict dividing line: Khurcha, Koki, Ganmukhuri, Orsantia, Shamgona (Zugdidi municipality), Pakhulani, Tskhoushi (Tsalenjikha municipality).
The information obtained through the methods questionnaire and in-depth interviews will make it possible to determine how relevant is the topic of domestic violence among internally displaced persons, how accessible are services that support the victim of violence for those people who live near the conflict dividing line, or move around the territory of Gali.
“How to create your own small business” - trainings on this topic were held as part of the small project of Terjola Women Support Center. The participants were provided with the necessary information so that they could improve their economic situation.
Also a dialogue with the preacher was organized. Such meetings give young people the opportunity to create a space for discussion in order to observe events, identify weaknesses and timely respond to problems.
In frames of the project, meetings were held with parents and students in Terjola school number 2 and in the school of the village of Alisubani - with the inclusion of a conflict expert and psychologist of the Fund "Sukhumi". The meeting was in the format of questions and answers. Participants received advices on how to resolve conflict situations.
A workshop for mobilizers of the Women Support Centers was held in the office - they summarized the current work, planned activities in frames of the campaign of “16 active days against violence towards the women”. Tthe mobilizers identified the problems existing in the municipality and worked on project ideas. It was noted that such meetings are important in terms of sharing information and drafting plans for the future.
In frames of the small project of Lanchkhuti Women Support Center, a training was held for representatives of local self-government. Participants obtained information on the issues of domestic violence and referral ways. It was noted that access to this information should have a wide range of societies, especially those people who are required to respond.
The cycle of meetings was continued In kindergartens, with the inclusion of a lawyer, conflict expert and psychologist.
In frames of Senaki Women Support Center small project “Parents for a Healthy Generation”, a training was held on the topic “Types and signs of domestic violence, referral ways and mechanisms”. The training was held in the kindergarten of the village of Menji. The training was attended by the director of the kindergarten, teachers and parents. The desire to join the work was also expressed by the representatives of the community and the village board. Participants received information on how to identify facts of violence and how to respond to it.
Educators and teachers of Poti kindergarten No. 11 attended the training, where the issues of gender and domestic violence were discussed. Attention was paid to the mechanisms of response and on the responsibility of preschool institution staff to identify children from families of risk-group.
In addition, the meeting of the lawyer and psychologist with the educators was held in the kindergarten No. 3. The psychologist worked with children using art therapy. Educators also joined the working process.
These activities are the part small project of the Poti Women Support Center.
The cutting courses were finished in the day center of the Fund "Sukhumi". During the project implementation, the participants have mastered the technique of sewing and studied all the necessary nuances. Their work was presented at summarizing lesson. Their work was highly appreciated. According to participants, the project helped them to become more motivated. They expressed desire to start a small business in the future, which will significantly improve their lives.
The accounting courses of 2 groups in the day center of Sukhumi Fund was completed. It was implemented in frames of the partner project of the organization “Human Doc Foundation”, “Supporting the Domestic Violence Prevention System”. the project id supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Cooperation Development of Poland. The women passed the theoretical bases of accounting by international standards, they were familiarized with accounting regulation in Georgia, organizational legal forms of enterprises, Georgian legislation, accounting methodology, program of Oris. Summary testing was performed and the groups showed positive results.