Daphne Programme – Year 2002
Interim Report
Project Nr.: 01/020/WY
Title: Strengthening the Linkages – Consolidating the European Network
Start Date: December 2001 End Date: November 2003
Co-ordinating Organisation’s name: Rape Crisis Network Ireland
Contact person: Project Manager
Name: Janice Ransom
Address: Kirwin House, Flood St
Postal code: City: Galway
Country: Ireland
Tel. N°.: +353 91563676 Fax Nr.: +353 91 563677
e-mail:
Partner Organisations’ names and countries:
Rape Crisis Federation of Wales and UK, England & Wales
Centre for Victims of Maltreatment and Exclusion, Greece
Child and Women’s Abuses Studies Unit, England
1. Aims of the project
The project aims, over the two year period, to address a number of problems firstly aimed at survivors of rape, secondly in relation to the support services provided by NGOs and thirdly in developing analysis which can be used to influence policy development. By providing a central point for information through the development of a website survivors, police services, etc will be able to access information relevant to the country of their search. A logo will provide a universally recognised symbol. Research on attrition will provide analysis of convictions etc, of sexual violence and identify trends across Europe that can be used to inform policy development. The production of a publication that identifies models of best practice of crisis intervention. The training & accreditation element will focus on developing recognition on a national and European level of the skills of the NGO sector in providing a women centered support to victims of rape.
The beneficiaries are survivors of rape, those providing frontline services, other interested parties such as the police forces, policy makers and medical profession.
The expected results are:
o Two short publications, one on attrition and the second on models of forensic nurse examinations
o Research publication on Attrition rates across Europe
o Case study document on models of best practice of service provision for victims of rape and sexual assault
o Website & Logo
o Development of European network with clear aims and objectives
o Review of current training practices
o Linkages with national and European training bodies.
2. Implementation of the project
Staff & supervision
Activity
The project manager and the training and accreditation researcher were recruited. Day to day supervision is provided by the national co-ordinator of the Rape Crisis Network and ongoing supervision of the implementation of the project by the national network meetings with focused support from an identified member.
Evaluation
The training & accreditation researcher was recruited later than the original timetable. As such contact was made with the Commission who agreed that the under spend will move into the following years budget.
Management Group Meetings
Activity
The aim of this activity is to provide a forum to facilitate the overall management of the project by the main partners.
First Management Meeting, Dublin
The first meeting was held on the 4th & 5th February in Dublin, Ireland. This meeting was attended by seven people representing the four core project partners. The meeting agreed a number of elements including:
Evaluation – Methodology for the project
Financial Matters - The budgets for the partners were discussed and agreed.
The invoice for the matching fund of partner’s time in participating on the project was clarified.
It was agreed that all original receipts would be sent to RCNI for financial recording purposes.
‘Logo’ - It was agreed that the ‘logo’ would be symbolic of what the European network was about and that it was important that it be something universally recognisable. It was agreed that to provide 4-5 options for the seminar in Greece where participants from the various organisations could identify their preference, though the final decision would lie with the management group. It was agreed that the organisation would be called the Rape Crisis Network Europe.
Website -It was agreed that the address would be www.rapecrisiseurope.com and that a site map be presented in draft from for the Greece seminar.
Attrition Briefing Papers & Report - This work is a continuation of the previous project ‘Rape the Forgotten Issue’ and as such will be undertaken by the Child and Women Abuse Studies Unit, London. It will repeat the original research model using a shorter version of the questionnaire and targeting Justice Departments. and NGO’s. It will look at the changes in legislation since the last report and identify countries that did not respond previously. The findings will be posted on the website and a briefing paper will provide a summary. It was agreed that the second briefing paper would look at forensic examinations.
Case study Publication - The aim of this publication is to provide a tool for individual countries to use to increase their opportunities to impact on the lives of survivors, funders, and policy and decision makers. The seminar in Greece will provide the starting point; case studies will need to be e-mailed to RCNI by the 24th January 2003. The publication will be launched at the seminar in Ireland in 2003 along with the website and other reports.
Training and Accreditation - This work will include an audit of what is currently available. Within the project are the funds to employ a worker to undertake this work.
Clarification of project partner’s role:
o Steering group for the project
o Proactive within the seminars
o Organise events
o Monitoring and evaluation project
o Sounding board for paid worker
o Decision making body ensuring wider representation
o Editorial group for publications
o Actively engage in and attend meetings
Next Steps - Next project meeting will be in Greece on the afternoon before the seminar.
Meeting in England will be in March 2003.
Seminar in Ireland will be late September 2003.
Second Management Meeting, Greece
This second meeting was linked to the seminar in Greece. It was held after the seminar to discuss the outcomes and plan for the next meeting in Manchester
Planning for meeting in UK - The date of the management meeting is 7th & 8th February in Manchester. Budget to be sent to Federation.
Agenda will include:
§ Developing an exit strategy from the Daphne funding,
§ Training and accreditation
§ Draft strategic plan for future work
§ Case Study publication
Planning for Dublin Seminar - The seminar will be within the last week of September and the first two weeks of October 2003.
Suggested issue based workshops include:
§ Adult trafficking,
§ Adult pornography – Eva Lungren, Sweden
§ Prostitution – Fiona Broadbent
Need to identify workshop facilitators to be briefed by Maria
Publications - Attrition should be ready by the end of December 2002
Models of Forensic Nurse Examinations by middle of September 2003.
Case study – as agreed at the seminar for discussion at the meeting in UK.
Evaluation
It was useful having this meeting after the seminar as any issues that arose where able to be dealt with.
Development of network
Activity
The participants at the Greek seminar set themselves the task of developing and agreeing the aims and objectives for the Network. To ensure that the discussion was as participative as possible members of the network broke into workshop groups and discussed their views, each coming back to the plenary with an agreed outline of the aims and objectives of the network. These were then put on the flip chart for all to review and ask questions. Following the discussion the rappatuer and the project manager prepared a position for all to discuss. The following was agreed.
The aim of the Rape Crisis Network Europe is to support members and survivors through campaigning, education and research and development work to eliminate sexual violence against women.
This will be achieved through the sharing of information, experiences and good practice and by conducting research, developing policies, education strategies and delivering training in order to ensure that women who are sexually assaulted get an immediate and supportive response wherever they live in Europe.
The RCNE will work to ensure that rape is named, behaviours are changed and local and international responses are effective from the survivors’ perspective.
The objectives of RCNE are to:
1. Provide information through recording facts, exchanging experiences, disseminating results, awareness raising, educating, informing the development of support service and acting as a point of contact for survivors/victims and organisations;
2. Conduct research on EU wide activities, on women’s experiences, making international comparisons and exposing deficiencies and injustices;
3. Influencing education services through educators, policy makers and improving the curriculum;
4. Providing training for volunteers, workers and professionals and improve delivery through networking to establish models of delivery, exchanging practices and materials, mentoring and developing guidelines;
5. International linking for action through support and pressure, strategies to include all women, developing international best practice and informing and making an impact on EU policy; and
6. Lobbying for change in legal provisions, service coverage and standards, funding and resources for groups and organisations that work with victims/survivors and organising campaigns as necessary.
The following approaches are used in the work of the RCNE:
· Include all women, i.e. we will ensure that practice is developed to include black women, disabled women, lesbian women, ethnic women, etc;
· Twinning, i.e. members will match up to assist each other with specific projects, tasks etc;
· Working groups will be formed to progress specific areas of work;
· Mentoring will be organised to ensure that where specific expertise is gained it is shared among the members;
· Survivor/victim informed, i.e. members will work to keep that the focus of all of their work;
· Review, monitor and evaluating tools will be utilised throughout; and
· Sustainability will be sought through securing resources for the work, including the possibility of acquiring an office and staff.
In so doing the RCNE will work to influence European policy-making and seek to generate standards of service delivery, policy implementation and legislation through national member state governments, NGO’s and the Human Rights agenda. All agreed that they would go back to their organisations, discuss the aims and objectives and ratify their membership.
Evaluation
The working within workshops, which could be in different languages, enabled participation from all those present. The general discussion that followed allowed for debate and questions
Transnational Seminar
Activity
The aim of the seminar was to bring together the various partners in the project in order to share information as to developments in each of their countries, assess the progress of the research and agree the aims and objectives of the network. This seminar was in Ioanninia, Greece with twenty-seven participants from 14 countries. Each country sent in advance a report from their country, which has become an invaluable resource in the development of the case study document.
Evaluation
Due to the distance from the main international airport, involving the need for and additional internal flight, costs for the seminar were higher than foreseen. It also meant that people had to stay for an extra night. However this did provide additional opportunities for networking and it was agreed that this outweighed the financial cost.
General Feedback On Seminar from participants
o Has given clarity and focus to the project
o Targets were met
o As a working seminar it was very effective
o Issue based workshops would have been useful;
o The translation was a problem. People were given the option of translation but everyone came back and said they wanted to work in English but the reality was that some people could not speak English.
o More clarification on the aims and expected outcomes from the workshops.
o Closing exercise
o Next time more informal networking space
Development of Website
Activity
The primary function of the RCNE website (rapecrisiseurope.com) is to provide a central information resource for survivors of rape and sexual assault across Europe. The technical development of the website has been contracted out to Celtic technologies. A questionnaire was developed to gather information from other organisations.
The format agreed at the seminar in Greece by all project partners. The following were agreed as essential on the website:
o Links to other networks
o Links to services
o Touch button map/flags on first page
o News page for updates & information exchange
o Publications List
o Myth blowing information
o Each country to provide a short overview of service provision
o Research
o Useful contacts page
o Making disability accessible (audio/visual aids)
o Translation would be in three European languages –English/French and the language of the country on the links page.
It as agreed that the website had to be as easy to maintain as possible and that by having links rather than core information, changes would transfer as made by individual countries.
Development of Sticker & Logo
Activity
To provide a tool for information for victims of rape and sexual violence to access information of support services. The log has been developed and agreed by all partners and is being used on the website.
Attrition Research
Activity
This work is a continuation of the previous project ‘Rape the Forgotten Issue’ and as such is being undertaken by the Child and Women abuse Studies Unit, London. It has repeated the original research model using a shorter version of the questionnaire and targeting Justice Departments and NGO’s. It is looking at the changes in legislation since the last report and has identified countries that did not respond previously. The findings will be posted on the website and a briefing paper will provide a summary. It was agreed that the second briefing paper would look at models of forensic nurse examinations. To date a questionnaire has been developed and distributed to each European country. A number of replies have been received but not all. The report intends to use figures from Justice Departments for 2001. The first draft will be discussed and agreed at the management meeting in February 2003.
It was suggested at the management meeting in February and agreed at the wider seminar in June that the second piece of work (2003) would look at forensic examinations and produce a short report with recommendations.