The Haven helps Russia stem Domestic Violence
Kath Rees (CEO of The Haven)
presents certificate to Ludmila
Ermakova (Director of Ekaterina)
In the UK 2 women per week are killed by a partner or former partner. In Russia a woman is killed every 40 minutes.
The team at the Haven have been working with women’s crisis centre Ekaterina in Sverdlovsk, Russia since 1997. In 2006 The Haven received funding from the Big Lottery Fund and the ‘Life Without Fear’ project was launched. The programme is currently in its third year influencing the attitudes and opinions of the Russian people as well as providing education and training in order to inform Russian society about the seriousness of domestic violence as a crime.
Services provided under the ‘Life Without Fear’ scheme include training for judges, lawyers and police as well as training for women’s organizations which are involved in processing domestic violence cases through the criminal justice system. Project Manager Elvira Wilson said “Domestic violence is a criminal act which has to be dealt with accordingly. Women have the right to live without violence.”
In the first two years of the ‘Life Without Fear’ program, 220 Justices of Peace, 75 lawyers, 223 crisis centre staff and 81 police officers were trained on the issue of domestic violence.
A conference on domestic violence was also held in Ekaterinburg in October 2007 and was the first of its kind in Russia. Wolverhampton’s District Judge Shamim A Qureshi and Senior Legal Advisor Gaynor Hollis attended the conference and stated that it had been an amazing experience. Gaynor added “If a domestic violence case reaches court in Russia, which is very rare, the presiding Justice of the Peace has no awareness of domestic violence.
That is where our work is making a difference. Statistics collected during the project show a steady decrease in cases closed and an increase in the number of domestic violence perpetrators brought to justice”.
For more information on the ‘Life Without Fear’ Project, as well as details on our other International projects please visit www.havenrefuge.org.uk/International/International.htm or call Elvira Wilson on 01902 572122.
Case Study: Diana
Diana grew up in Russia in a family where all the decisions were made by her father. Therefore it was no surprise when Diana’s father arranged a marriage for her. Diana had never met her future husband but hoped love would eventually grow between them.
Almost immediately after the wedding – the violence began. Her husband repeatedly beat her, called her names, belittled her and once broke her fingers as she attempted to shield herself from his beatings. In one of the most violent attacks, he tried to strangle her with an intercom cord.
Diana eventually came to the conclusion that she could no longer live in this way and with the support of friends she approached the Social Protection Department of the police in Ekaterinburg city. ‘Police employees now have a contract of cooperation with Women’s Crisis Centre Ekaterina, and with their help, Diana was provided with counseling and legal support. Diana was provided with a lawyer who had received domestic violence training and worked to take her case to court.
As a result Diana’s husband was found guilty of insult, battery and threatening murder and was jailed for 6 months. Due to the intervention of “Ekaterina” this is one of the rare instances in which a Domestic Violence case was brought to justice.
Statistics still show that 82% of domestic violence cases in Russia are closed and perpetrators of domestic violence are not bought to justice.
The Haven Wolverhampton invited to the World’s First Conference for Women’s Shelters.
The Haven Wolverhampton has been invited to the World’s First Conference for Women’s Shelters in Canada. We have been asked to be lead presenter in the ‘Global Voices’ workshop.
The Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters will present the first ever World Conference of Women’s Shelters which will feature 120 presentations from over 35 different countries.
This will be a unique opportunity for The Haven and other service providers who are at the forefront of dealing with violence against women, to network, share and support one another.
Michaila Tope – Residential Services Director.
Visit from Saudi Arabia
Visitors from Saudi Arabia with The
Haven Wolverhampton staff
In March 2008 The Haven Wolverhampton hosted a visit from senior representatives of Saudi charities and The Ministry of Social Affairs. The training visit has been commissioned by INTRAC, a non-profit organisation working in the international development and relief sector (www.intrac.org). A training and awareness program created and delivered by staff at The Haven covered such issues as how domestic violence victims are supported in the UK and UK legislation on domestic violence. This was an opportunity for our international visitors to see how domestic violence is being tackled in the UK and learn by our example.
Our visitors were impressed with The Haven’s work and pleased with the training they received. Visitors left comments including “You taught us what we really needed to know” and “Thank you for the great efforts you extended.”
The International visit has been extremely gratifying. Staff were able to learn from International experiences of working in the domestic violence sector and build new partnerships with International Non-Governmental Organizations, helping to raise the profile of The Haven internationally. We wish to express our thanks and appreciation to our International visitors. We will be happy to welcome them back to Wolverhampton in the future.
Equality is not a Utopia
Haven Staff with members of
Ekaterina and SABR at the 10th
International Congress on Women
in Madrid.
On 5th July 2008 The Haven Wolverhampton in partnership with The Crisis Centre “Ekaterina” Russia and The Socio Economic Development Centre “SABR” Uzbekistan, delivered a Panel at the 10th International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women in Madrid.
The main aim of the congress was to address one of the main challenges of the new century – equality between men and women in all walks of life.
The congress was hosted by the University of Madrid and was attended by 3,700 participants from 110 countries. The congress was an opportunity to share our knowledge and experience with professionals from around the world and also to promote the Haven’s work at an international level.
Partnership with SABR, Uzbekistan – An Update
Women from Uzbekistan receiving
graduation certificates – 2008
In May 2008 the CEO of The Haven Wolverhampton – Kath Rees – delivered a presentation at the International Conference “Socio Economic Initiatives of Women” in Samarkand Uzbekistan.
The conference was organised by Women’s Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan and The Socio-Economic Development Centre “SABR” and was chaired by Mrs Svetlana Inamova – Senator of Uzbekistan, deputy Prime Minister and the Chairwoman of the Women’s Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan’. The conference focused on the development opportunities available for women in Uzbekistan. Kath Rees underlined the need to address domestic violence, as well as other forms of violence against women, to ensure the human rights of women are promoted in society. The speech was very well received by the audience which included representatives from the UK embassy in Uzbekistan.
Members of the SABR meet staff
from The Haven Wolverhampton in
Uzbekistan
In August 2007 The Haven’s representatives attended the opening ceremonies of the project. Nine months later in May 2008 SABR and The Haven were proud to celebrate the first graduations at the Centre of Social Adaption for young women. A total of 65 young women and girls aged 16 to 21 from low income families were trained in professional sewing, hair dressing, computer literacy, domestic violence and business and leadership skills. SABR provided 16 micro finance loans to the graduates which helped to establish 18 mini businesses.
As a result the graduates are not just supporting their families by running their own businesses but are also helping to train more young girls in their villages.
We look forward to a visit from SABR staff and stakeholders on 22/07/08 to 29/07/08 who will receive training on UK approaches to support victims of domestic violence and witness first hand the good work we do at The Haven.
Elvira Wilson - International Project Manager.
