The way out of violence
In 2014 the European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) realized the first-of-its-kind survey on violence against women: 42.000 women were questioned about experiences of physical, sexual and psychological violence, including incidents of intimate partner violence (IPV). The results were alarming: almost 1 in 4 women experienced physical and/or sexual violence in a relationship with a man. It was a wake-up call.
The lack of economic independence is one of the main challenge women face when they try to leave their abusive partners: anti-violence centers (AVCs) across Europe recognize that women often remain in violent relationships because of their financial dependence on the violent partner. This issue is coupled with the fact that women are considerably under-represented in the labour market and in management roles, with the overall female employment rate still being lower than that of men.
In the last five years ActionAid Italy together with several partners among NGOs, Research Institutes and Anti-violence Centers from across Europe, developed a program to understand and overcome the main obstacles to a life free from violence, focusing on supporting women in their path to self-determination.
The project WE GO! Women Economic-independence & Growth Opportunity, was firstly realized between 2015 and 2017 by 17 partners, while its second edition WE GO II – Building Economic Independence, the Way Out of Intimate Partner Violence is currently being implemented by six partners from four countries. A third edition of the project is about to start in April 2021, making what began as a one-off intervention into a long-term multi-actor program. Such program also includes local projects ActionAid implements directly on the territories where it works, often with the engagement of local authorities.
Core business of the empowerment program is to build better tools and better networks to support the socio-economic empowerment of women who survived violence. ActionAid follows a feminist approach and works closely with AVCs, putting women and their needs at the center of its work.ActionAid has a long culture of advocacy, and itsfinal goal is to obtain better laws, policies and welfare systems for women. Because a better system for womenit’s a better systemfor everyone.
In this page, ActionAid Italy and some of its partners will share news, knowledge and data regarding socio-economic empowerment for survivors and the fight against gender inequality and IPV.