SUPPORTING THE SUSTAINABILITY AND AUTONOMY OF WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDING SERVICES IN EASTERN EUROPE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROJECT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN JANUARY AND DECEMBER 2014 The report was prepared by the WAVE Team: Marion Lesur, Barbara Stelmaszek, Zeynep Topalan, with contributions from Rosa Logar, Aurora Perego and Maria Rösslhumer. Financial support was provided by the Oak Foundation www.wave-network.org www.oakfnd.org IMPRINT Women against Violence Europe (WAVE) Bacherplatz 10/6, 1050 Vienna, Austria Tel.: +43 (0) 15482720, Fax: +43 (0) 1548272027 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.wave-network.org ZVR: 601608559 The report was prepared by the WAVE team: Marion Lesur, Barbara Stelmaszek, Zeynep Topalan, with contributions from Rosa Logar, Aurora Perego and Maria Rösslhumer Copy editing: Kelly Blank Place and Year of Publication: Vienna, February 2015 The WAVE Team would like to extend sincere thanks and gratitude to the following women’s organizations and WAVE Focal Points for their dedication, cooperation and support in the development of this report. Foundation United Women of Banja Luka – Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation – Bulgaria Autonomous Women’s House Zagreb – Croatia SOS Niksic Hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence – Montenegro Casa Marioarei Association against Violence – Moldova Women’s Law Center – Moldova Autonomous Women’s Center - Serbia This project was funded by the OAK Foundation. www.oakfnd.org 0 Content OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................ 4 (PART I) VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN – EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM, CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES ................................................................................................................................................. 6 1.1. Needs of Women Survivors of Violence and Their Children .............................................................. 13 1.2. Principles and Standards of Service Provision for Women Survivors of Violence and Their Children ………………………………………………………………………………………………………...16 1.3. Types of Services for Women Survivors of Violence and Their Children .......................................... 22 1.4. Access to Support Services by Women Facing Multiple Discrimination and Marginalization ........... 25 1.5. Rights of Women Survivors of Gender Based Violence to Adequate Service Provision .................... 28 1.6. The Importance and Roles of Women’s NGOs in Supporting Women Survivors of Violence and Their Children ............................................................................................................................................................ 38 Summary Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................... 44 (PART II) AREAS SUPPORTING SUSTAINABILITY AND AUTONOMY ................................................... 46 2.1. Framework Model Indicators ..................................................................................................................... 46 2.1.1. STATE FUNDING OF WOMEN’S SERVICES ............................................................................... 56 2.1.2. SUPPORT FOR AND PROMOTION OF WOMEN’S NGOs .......................................................... 58 2.1.3. RESPECT FOR AUTONOMOUS PRINCIPLES OF WOMEN’S SERVICE PROVISION ............ 64 2.1.4. RELEVANT LEGISLATION AND POLICY RELATED TO COMBATING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN .................................................................................................................................... 65 2.2. Country Profiles ......................................................................................................................................... 69 2.2.1. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA ...................................................................................................... 69 2.2.2. BULGARIA ....................................................................................................................................... 82 2.2.3. CROATIA .......................................................................................................................................... 95 2.2.4. MOLDOVA...................................................................................................................................... 106 2.2.5. MONTENEGRO .............................................................................................................................. 118 2.2.6. SERBIA ............................................................................................................................................ 131 (PART III) ANALYSIS OF COUNTRY PROFILES AND PROMISING PRACTICES .................................. 146 Concluding Observations .................................................................................................................................... 172 1 Women against Violence Europe Women against Violence Europe (WAVE) is a European-wide feminist network NGO promoting human rights of women and children and working in the field of preventing and combating violence against women. WAVE’s work focuses on advocacy, capacity building, exchange of information, research and networking. Based in Vienna, Austria, the network was founded in 1994. Today, the network comprises of more than 100 women’s organizations and other organizations working in the field of combating violence against women across 46 European countries. www.wave-network.org “We must unite. Violence against women cannot be tolerated, in any form, in any context, in any circumstance, by any political leader or by any government.”- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 2 FORWARD Violence against women is endemic. There is no place in the world, where women are free and safe from violence. Women, unlike men, are more likely to experience violence in their home, a place, where they should feel at their safest, and most likely at the hands of their own partner, a person they love and should be able to trust. While there has been no global study conducted to estimate the true extent of violence against women, the recent study conducted by the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, measuring the extent of certain forms of violence against women, shows that at least one in three women across the European Union (EU) have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. This represents approximately 60 million women in the European Union. Due to various reasons, the rate is also likely underestimated. In some countries across all of Europe, national estimates have shown rates to be as high as 60% for certain forms of violence against women. Despite this, significant progress has been made in Europe in the last decades and the women’s movement and women’s civil society organizations have been at the forefront of combating violence against women, joined with state governments. The progress is both a sign and a hope in societies’ capacity for real and positive change. In the future, if the efforts and cooperation between women’s NGOs and the state are intensified, women will have better access to human rights, to live a life free from violence, to live in dignity and to realize their full potential. Women’s organizations have and continue to serve numerous roles in society and have historically been places, where women victims of violence have turned to for support. In addition to providing services for victims, women’s organizations have been agents of social change, and supporting their work is a means of moving forward to build on the existing momentum in the area of preventing and combating violence against women and creating better and healthier societies. This report aims to raise awareness about violence against women, its extent, causes and consequences, and link the autonomous women’s service provision with helping women victims overcome violence and move on to live fulfilling lives, free of violence. Most often women seeking support from services are victims of coercive control, which is a pattern of abusive and violent behavior committed by perpetrators, meant to establish and maintain control over the victim. Women are most often victims of coercive control and men perpetrators thereof. The experience of such abuse and violence results in victims having specific needs that can only be met through autonomous, specialized and gender-specific services, applying specific principles and standards. Access to service provision is a right of women victims of violence. Secondly, the report aims to provide a framework that supports the autonomy and sustainability of women’s services, and as the focus of the report is on six countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia), it also provides an overview of the current situation in those countries in relation to the framework. Whenever possible, promising processes and practices that help to achieve aspects of the framework are identified, as are processes and practices from other European countries. The report ends with a series of concluding observations made to provide both a summary, but also to stimulate discussion about ways in which the women’s movement and the service provision that is a part of it can move forward, including challenges it faces and as well as areas upon which to focus for increased effectiveness. 3 OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY