2013 Training - "Quality Standards and Challenges in Different Types of Counseling on Violence against Women, Girls and Children - Especially for Victims of Sexual Violence”

2013 Recognition of the problem of violence against women - the first step towards its solution

Objective: Raising awareness among students and young girls from rural areas about the problem of violence against women.

Results:

1. Two workshops were held with high school students of the Municipality of Gazi Baba. These workshops have contributed for increased awareness among the students for the problem of violence against women, with particular emphasis on sexual harassment. More precisely they learned to recognize violence, consequences from it and ways of protection. Also the workshops served to obtain initial information from the students about their experiences with sexual harassment and recommendations on future steps and strategies for dealing with this kind of violence.

2. One workshop was held with young girls from rural areas on the territory of the Municipality of Gazi Baba. Participants were encouraged to recognize beyond all forms of violence against women in our environment, to discuss openly about the experience, but also to support each other .

2013 Help, support and sheltering of victims of domestic violence

General objective: Termination of the cycle of violence through measures of protection and prevention

Specific objectives:

1. Continuous provision of direct services and support to victims of domestic violence

2. Increasing awareness among young girls for recognition of violence against women

In 2013 for victims of domestic violence available were the following services: Crisis counseling and referral through S.O.S help lines (National S.O.S Line 15 -315 and Telephone of confidence 02 / 3173-424); Emotional empowerment and initial legal aid through education for victims of domestic violence and Crisis sheltering in a period of 24 – 48 hours, with capacity of sheltering 5 – 7 victims at a time.

Results:

1. 1181potential victims and victims of domestic violence received professional help and adequate information

2. Referred 553 victims of domestic violence to Centers for social work and Police

3. Sheltered 35 women and 15 children victims of domestic violence in period 24 – 48 hours

4. Educated 94 women victims of domestic violence

5. Designed and disseminated 1000 leaflets and 200 posters

2013 Days of Education and Career

From 10.04.2013 to 12.04.2013 Crisis Center "Hope" was part of the event Days of Education and Career 2013 held in Skopje Fair. The center had a stand within TACSO where pamphlets and other informative material were set. The visitors were able to find out more about our work. On 12/4/2013 at 3:00 PMwe have also held apresentation titled "Violence against women just a tenuous shadow of domestic violence".

2013 V Day Macedonia

 V Day Macedonia organized for the second time the play “Vagina Monologues” by Eve Ensler. The play took place on the stage of Universal Hall Skopje on April 29^th, 2013. Participants were women and young girls, activist and women from public life who shared testimonials about unique experiences regarding love, birth, sex, violence, rape… Collected funds in 90 % will be donated to Crises Center “Hope” and the rest will be donated to V Day – America, which afterwards will be allocated as help funds for Democratic Republic of Congo.

The play was preceded by five workshops regarding violence against women and domestic violence and the event titled  “One Billion Raising against Violence” supported with a flash mob (as a form of protest against the violence), which took place on the main city square “Macedonia”, in Skopje.

V Day Macedonia has also presented the documentary film “Until violence stops” within the Faculty of Gender studies and ensured direct support (empowering and legal counseling) to at least 10 victims which reported violence in Crises Center “Hope”.

2013 It is Not About Their Arrangement; It is About Your Free Will!

Objectives:

1. Providing in-depth knowledge of arranged marriages among adolescent girls and young women with different ethnic background from the Municipality of Kumanovo.

2. Identifying specific sensitivities in cases of arranged marriages.

3. Increasing the visibility of the problem of arranged marriages.

Results:

1. 4 educational workshops were held for adolescent girls with Albanian, Macedonian and Roma ethnic background from Kumanovo. The workshops were attended by 120 participants coming both from urban and rural areas.

2. Drafting and dissemination of 300 brochures in Macedonian and Albanian language. The brochures contain information regarding violence against women, specific information on arranged marriages complemented with the experiences in relation with this type of violence from the workshops.

3. Making short video on the topic. The video was prepared after obtaining information about the experiences of the participants of the workshops regarding arranged marriages.

2013 Cooperation with "RE - Medika"

From December 2013 a new partnership was established between the Crisis Center “Hope” and "RE - Medika" first private general hospital in the country for adoption and implementation of effective, comprehensive and coordinated measures and actions in terms of prevention, protection and support of victims. Within its capabilities, Re - Medika agrees to provide support to the work of CC "Hope" in order to: improve the quality of specialist support services for victims of domestic violence, provided by CC "Hope", and successful implementation of the preventive program of CC "Hope" to prevent violence against women and domestic violence.