The topic of domestic violence is increasingly discussed and revealed. An inseparable part of this phenomenon is violence among teenagers. This phenomenon is no longer spoken, and many people concerned do not see this as a problem. In 2014, we conducted Domestic Violence through the eyes of teenagers, in which we found that more than half of respondents (altogether 400) encountered some form of violence. Still, according to research conducted in the USA, 81% of parents believe that teen dating violence (TDV) is no problem. That is why we want to make this subject visible. The main goal of this project is just the prevention of TDV. This project has two parts. The first one is to highlight the problem of TDV, one of the goals is raising awareness. This goal should be achieved thanks to the research focused on situation of the field of TV in each country. Than we can focus on the areas that are most often in the results of the research. Than we would like to do some online platform to share the results of the research and to warn the target group (the young, their parents, the teachers, etc.) about this problem. This online space should offer the interactive space to get some information about TDV and share their experience. This online space will include the quiz about TDV, this quiz will be downloadable to the mobile like mobile application, too. The next goal is improvement of the competence of youth workers, thanks the online platform for cooperating organizations, where they can get information about TDV, they can share their cases and ask for help, if they need. This part of the online space will include the databases of organizations that are working with TDV. This database will be open for all organizations that would like to be involved. Next aktivit off the project is creatin and providing of the open social group on facebook in each country, where the youth orker will discuss with youth about TDV. We expect 5440 people to be contacted during the implementation of the project through facebook groups in each country (250 members in each country). Furthermore, through the online platform (3 500 visitors during project implementation). Part of the online platform will be a database of organizations providing TDV services, we expect 50 organizations to join the database during the project. Last but not least, we prepare controlled discussions (roundtables) in each country to present the outputs of the project. We expect 20 participants in each country. The main activities of the project: 1) Local researches and comparative research 2) Online platform with the database of organizations working with youh 3) Facebook groups 4) Interactive mobile quiz Results of the project ----------------------------------------------------- 1 7 local researches on the situation about TDV and 1 comparative research that will be able to use like the argumentative material for lobby activities. 2 7 Social groups on Facebook in each country, where the youth can share their experiences, ask for information or help. The posts of the youth will be approved by the youth worker; comments will be controlled and commented by the youth workers, too. 3 Online platform for youth workers (database of contacts - list of contacts, individual center/organizations that are working with TDV, online library for sharing study materials). 4 Interactive quiz about TDV. Potential longer-term benefits ----------------------------------------------------- The main desired impact is rising awareness about TDV and therefore lesser a number of TDV cases among young people. Another expected impact of the project is to increase the competencies of youth workers through available materials and to share their cases with more experienced colleagues. Another benefit should be the accumulation of materials for prevention activities for young people. Teachers and preventives will have access to these materials and can use them in their teaching. Alternatively, they can find contacts with organizations near their school and establish cooperation in preventive activities. Regional level – The results of the research will show the current status of TDV which is information important for the formation of other programs and policies with this issue European level – Available comparative research which results can be used to shape policies, preventive programs With the use of social networks, it is possible to appeal to teenagers in each participating country who are connected to the Internet, no matter in which parts of the country they are. They can get the necessary information here to seek help or share their experiences with this issue. Teenagers can also test their knowledge through an interactive quiz after completing the project.
Teen Dating Violence (TDV) is a phenomenon that is prevalent and has serious impacts on the physical and psychological health of teenagers and young people, affecting also their ability to establish future healthy relationships. This topic is quite unknown, there are not data and researches available, TDV is not defined in legislation either policy papers, it is not anchored in the prevention materials. However, from the prior experience of proFem, teens and young people do experience this phenomenon. Thus we decided to focus on this topic in-depth, and we wanted to raise awareness about this unknown phenomenon not only in the Czech Republic – therefore the international partnership among 7 countries was established. The project aimed to build an international partnership for the prevention of teen dating violence. To achieve so, these objectives were defined: - To highlight the TDV problem and advocate for better and systematic prevention on national and European levels - To develop innovative tools for prevention of TDV (mobile application-quiz) - To raise awareness about TDV and healthy relationships among youth - To create a platform for cooperation and sharing of experiences and best practices - To increase competencies of youth workers and educators in effective prevention of TDV In the project seven different participating organizations from seven countries among Europe and South Caucasus cooperated: Verein Hazissa - Fachstelle für Prävention (Austria), Fundación Privada Indera (Spain), Fondazione Hallgarten-Franchetti Centro Studi Villa Montesca (Italy), Sakhli - Advice Center for Women (Georgia), CESI- Centar za edukaciju, savjetovanje i istrazivanje (Croatia), Society Without Violence (Armenia) and proFem – centrum pro oběti domácího a sexuálního násilí, o.p.s. (Czech Republic). All of the participating organizations are non-governmental organization, partner organization from Italy is a foundation. The specialization and focus of each organization differ from direct work with victims of GBV, to prevention, education or research activities. Following major outputs were created within the project: O1 – Research: quantitative research on the representative sample of 1.000 young people (age 16-26) was conducted in each partner country, with aim of exploring how is the teen dating violence prevalent, in what types of violence it manifests, what are the effects and how do they deal with the violence in their relationships. After conducting national researches, data were compared to provide us with an international comparison. O2 – Facebook groups: in this output we focused on teenagers and youths themselves, providing them with safe space where they can ask and learn about relationships, dating, violence, and related topics, in order to promote healthy relationships and prevent teen dating violence. Volunteers as peer workers, who were trained thanks to KA1 project Ambassadors of Love and Respect, were also involved in creating the content of these Facebook groups/Instagram accounts and discussion with followers. O3 – Shared platform: is aimed for both youngsters and professionals, bringing a wide range of information and materials on TDV and relationships: national legislation researches, articles about TDV or tips how to address this topic in education, contacts to helping organizations or questions and answers regarding these topics. The platform is available in 8 languages (national languages of partner organizations + English). O4 – Online quiz: aim to provide an entertaining way through which teenagers can learn about violence, healthy relationships, and related topics. The quiz was again created in 8 language versions. Round Tables: were the main dissemination event organized in each partner country, bringing various professionals, policymakers and stakeholders together to present outputs of the project, to discuss the topic of TDV and existing prevention and awareness-raising activities as well as available help to its victims. We believe that the project was very successful in influencing the situation of teen dating violence on local as well as on international levels, based on our monitoring and evaluation of the project impacts: more than 2.400 young people following Facebook groups and/or Instagram accounts learned, asked and discussed about the topic of teen dating violence, 9.894 young people and youth workers visited online shared platform; 2.354 young people run interactive quizzes, and 182 professionals participated in round tables. Moreover, in some partner countries we also succeeded in impacting policies, when the topic of TDV was defined and highlighted in new Action Plan of the Prevention of Domestic and Gender-Based Violence for 2019-2022 (Czech Republic), and when close cooperation with Ministry of Education (Croatia), Ministry of Justice (Armenia) and local municipality (Italy) was established with aim of further cooperation in prevention of TDV.