The main aim of the project "Take the Stage" is to develop capacity building for professionals working in the field of victim support of gender based violence. The project aims to teach them tools and mechanisms directed at victims of gender violence in order to provide holistic and sustainable support for their better re-integration in the society through the use of theatre techniques in their interventions. By working with these techniques and through reflection, innovation and collaboration an empowerment and better social inclusion of the final beneficiaries shall be achieved. Therefore, the specific objectives of this project are: • To strengthen the counsellors’ skills and competences • To enhance a more inclusive society • To empower victims of gender-violence and enhance their re-integration into society • To promote gender equality Target groups: - Counsellors and professionals working in the field of support provision to victims of gender-based violence. - Victims of gender-based violence - General public
Gender-based violence as a violence directed against a person because of their gender is a violation of human rights. More specifically under the Istanbul Convention it is defined as acts of gender-based violence which are emphasised as resulting in ‘physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering mostly done to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.’ Many forms of gender-based violence as described in the actual definition of the EIGE Institute are rooted in power inequalities between women and men. According to EGGSI national reports, the most common individual consequences of violence reported include emotional and mental consequences on women and children including psychological disturbances, anxiety, low self-esteem, reduction in self-assurance and abilities and resources to cope with the situation, fear of the future, depression, as well as consequences in terms of social inclusion and economic precariousness which may include facing problems on the labour market due to various physical or psychological impairments . Moreover, theatre performance has been used in numerous actions to work for social inclusion. This approach is based on the idea of developing key competences and skills, increasing self-confidence and self-esteem, thus promoting social inclusion. Moreover, “Theatre of the Oppressed”, a technique developed by Augusto Boal in the 70s, aims at analysing rather than accepting a situation and questioning it rather than giving answers. Especially, Forum Theatre in which a scene is presented showing a situation of oppression that the protagonist does not know how to solve, and the spect-actors are invited to replace the protagonist and act out all possible solutions or strategies. "Take the stage" aims to apply and adapt these techniques to the empowerment of victims of gender violence to provide a holistic and sustainable support for their re-integration in society through theatre techniques.