The work of a psychologist is carried out in the regions where the Women Support Centers operate and in Kutaisi, at the head office of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”.
In April, there were meetings in Terjola, Kobuleti, Senaki and Zugdidi (village Khurcha) municipalities. Individual and group meetings were held with women – there were 21 participants. Such meetings often identify victims of violence, with whom specific communication begins. In April - 4 victims of domestic violence were identified. They were given the first recommendations and continued psychotherapeutic sessions.
Despite live meetings, online individual sessions are still going on – during the month 15 beneficiaries communicated with the psychologist online.
They were brought from one of the municipalities of Western Georgia, where the Fund "Sukhumi" Women Support Center operates.
I. 37 years old - was the eldest in the family. She helped her father in raising younger brothers and sisters after her mother left the family. Since childhood, she has gone through suffering and trauma. She was married twice. She is a victim of violence. She looks after a niece with disabilities. Her second child has a problem with birth trauma. This is a family living below the poverty line.
A woman with three children stayed in the rehabilitation center of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" for 10 days. During this time, a comprehensive joint daily intensive psycho-rehabilitation was held. A psychologist, a lawyer and a social worker actively worked with the victim. For the first time, a teacher was included in the process. She took care of the children - played with them, conducted various activities.
“Such a meeting is important for me. There was a detailed explanation on how to enter a web page, how to find and download the necessary information.”
"It's hard to be a single mother and allocate time to educate yourself. These meetings are useful because they explain how to use the web page."
"So much information in one space is a comfort... I'm already thinking whom to consult, whom to help."
This is the feedback from the participants of the online meetings held in April. Meetings were held with women from the municipalities of Kobuleti, Chokhatauri, Senaki and Tkibuli. They received detailed information about the website of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" - "Digital Resource Center of Services for Victims of Violence" - www.sosfsokhumi.ge - why it was created, what materials are posted, how to use, how it will help vulnerable groups.
The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)
The advocacy group of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" held the second meeting from the series of information meetings in Terjola municipality City Hall. Among the participants there were women living in the municipality, representatives of the City Hall and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, heads of departments, members of the Gender Equality Council.
The participants received information about two researches of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" - “Importance of Behavior Change Programs of the Perpetrator at an Early Stage and Existing Best Practices” and "Development of Child Care Services - to Promote Women's Employment and Ensure Effective Prevention and Response to Domestic Violence."
A short presentation familiarized the participants with the web page created by the Women Fund "Sukhumi" - "Digital Resource Center for Services of Victims of Violence" - www.sosfsokhumi.ge. During the meeting, flyers were distributed, and at the end there was an active discussion - they talked about the situation in the municipality in terms of domestic violence and assistance to victims.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
In April, the advocacy group of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" planned a series of information meetings to raise the awareness of active groups of citizens and referral entities on the elimination of domestic violence/violence against women and assistance to the victim.
The meeting at the City Hall of Senaki Municipality was attended by women victims of violence, single mothers and mothers with many children, teachers and the City Hall staff.
The participants of the meeting got acquainted with the results of two researches conducted by the Women Fund "Sukhumi" - on the promotion of women's employment and childcare services, as well as the correction of the behavior of a perpetrator.
At the meeting, a short presentation of the digital resource center of the services for victims of violence was made. The participants were given flyers with detailed information about the web page - www.sosfsokhumi.ge.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
There is a lot of work to do in terms of identifying cases of violence, because the scale of the problem is still not recognized in society. All information related to assistance to a victim of violence is important – the mobilizers of the Women Support Centers agree with this opinion, who meet monthly with women of different ages and professions.
Information is distributed quickly and reaches the addressee in a timely manner. Identified cases are recorded in the Women Support Centers of Tsalenjikha, Samtredia, Vani, Tkibuli and Zugdidi. The response process continues accordingly until the victim has received all available services. There are already results - some of the beneficiaries completed a course in psychology and some received legal advice.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
Phones with SOS application and a magic button of our support were “lit up” in several other municipalities: Chokhatauri, Kobuleti, Vani, Bagdati, Senaki, Samtredia, Zugdidi, Terjola, Tsalenjikha, Tkibuli.
The Women Fund "Sukhumi" held a special action - handed over mobile phones to women of vulnerable groups.
This useful activity was carried out together with representatives of local governments, since it is important for the Fund "Sukhumi" to cooperate with municipal structures to improve the social and psychological situation of women.
The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)
The last training from the cycle of trainings organized by the Women Fund "Sukhumi" was held In the Zoom format - this time for the heads of administrative units and specialists from the services of the municipalities of Tkibuli, Kobuleti, Chokhatauri and Tsalenjikha.
The training covered the following issues: the role of local governments in achieving gender equality, prevention and response to domestic violence; forms of civic participation, mechanisms of protection from violence, cooperation with the referral entities in identifying cases of violence and assistance to the victim.
The training participants were introduced to the innovative platform - the web page "Digital Resource Center for Victims of Violence" created by the Women Fund "Sukhumi". The web page gives information to the victim of violence and the person who is interested in her assistance about existing services, protection mechanisms and other relevant topics.
The lawyer of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" held consultation meetings for the beneficiaries of the Women Support Centers of Tkibuli, Terjola and Senaki.
The lawyer also gave three online legal consultations to the beneficiaries of the Women Support Centers of Samtredia, Vani and Chokhatauri - on the issues of changing the surname, also alimony and divorce.
The lawyer actively worked in the rehabilitation center together with a social worker and psychologist of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”. Women-victims of domestic violence living in the center, received the legal consultations on interesting issues.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
