Our project was a continuation of many years of activities of the HumanDoc Foundation in building systems of counteracting domestic violence in the Eastern Partnership Countries. We realized our assumptions in partnership with the Fergana-based organization “Mehrzhon”, which has been dealing with issues of women and domestic violence since 2007.
Why are our activities needed?
In Uzbekistan, there is still a great need to educate Uzbek specialists in the field of domestic violence and to raise awareness of the problem of domestic violence among local government officials and regional state institutions. Moreover, our project supports the recently existing progressive laws that create a system of counteracting violence from scratch.
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Uzbekistan is a country with a culturally deeply rooted patriarchy and a traditional understanding of roles in society – a woman is a mother and wife, strongly placed in the family hierarchy. Its main task is to take care of the home. In the last 4 years, following the changes in government, the problem of violence against women has started to be recognized.
At the same time, during the implementation of the project, we noticed how minimal the awareness of the problem of domestic violence among the Uzbek media is. As a result, society is provided with a false image of the problem of domestic violence, based on stereotypes, of the objective role of women resulting from the patriarchal model of understanding the role of women. Media coverage often causes secondary victimization.
Our main task was to support local organizations in the Fergana region by sharing our experience and, above all, the knowledge of our experts.
Speaking of experts, we want to emphasize that the project was attended by people who have been working with HumanDoc for five years, incl. in creating systemic solutions for counteracting domestic violence in Georgia – we were substantively supported by Barbara Leszczyńska, head of the Specialist Support Center for Victims of Domestic Violence in Opole and therapist Anna Wołoszczuk.
Both experts have many years of experience in working with people experiencing domestic violence. In addition, our experts also have extensive experience in sharing their knowledge and supporting the development of foreign personnel.
prepared publication "What is domestic violence and how to prevent it"
people took part in project activities
experts took part in the Round Table on recommendations and creating a model for counteracting domestic violence in Uzbekistan
During the project:
✔ we organized four important meetings – Online Expert Seminar, each of which was attended by 25 people
✔ We have trained the staff of local support centers in the Fergana Region
✔ Together with our partners, we organized a round table connecting non-governmental organizations and local government in terms of building a local system of counteracting domestic violence – as many as 40 experts and representatives of various organizations and institutions participated in the meeting
✔ We have published an information publication on the rules of working with people experiencing violence (download).nce.
The project “Support for the system of counteracting domestic violence and protection of people experiencing domestic violence in the Ferganian village (Uzbekistan)” is co-financed by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation as part of the RITA program – Transformations in the region, implemented by the Education for Democracy Foundation.
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