Krav Maga Croatia organizes a free self-defense training seminar the occasion of the National Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The seminar will be held on Saturday, September 20th from 1pm to 3pm at Zagreb Fair, Pavilion 6 (tennis courts) in Zagreb. The highest ranked Krav Maga instructors will hold the seminar.

Violence against women is the most widespread form of violation of fundamental human rights and most often remains unreported so that the statistical data on physical and sexual violence does not show the reality in which we live. The seminar will show you how to behave in uncomfortable situations, which techniques women can use to help prevent and de-escalate violence, and quick and easy techniques of response to physical attacks.

Krav Maga invites all interested women and girls to come and bring their friends, sisters, neighbors, colleagues (regardless of age and background), and in this way join Krav Maga in the fight against violence against women!

The self-defense seminar will be attended by the members of the association Women’s Aid Now, Mladen Brestovac, one of the most successful Croatian fighters, and Miss Sport Nikolina Klasnetić. A children’s playground where the kids can have fun during the seminar will be set up for the mothers who plan to bring their children along.

More information can be obtained at info@krav-maga.hr or phone numbers 091/580 5160 or 091/3636 444.

Association “Domine” from Split continues to implement its long-term economic empowerment programs and psycho-social support to unemployed women through a new project called the “An Employed woman – An Independent woman.”

The aim is to raise the level of knowledge, skills and motivation of women in their search for employment and self-employment. They will also be teaching how to write and implement EU projects through a series of educational trainings intended for 18-29 years year old young women with no work experience, 23-40 year old unemployed women from the category of hard to employ women (women victims of domestic and other forms of violence, single mothers, women with disabilities, long-term unemployed), and highly educated women who already have some skills and knowledge needed for writing and implementing EU projects. The educational trainings will be conducted on the premises of “Domine”.

In addition to education, the beneficiary will receive professional and individual psycho-social empowerment and motivation for solving their unfavorable economic situation and for taking responsibility and playing an active role in the inclusion of the labor market.

The project will be financially supported by the City of Split and implemented until June 30^th 2015, in cooperation with the Croatian Employment Service, Regional Office Split, Croatian Employers’ Association, the Regional Office Split, Local Employment Partnerships (LPZ), CEDRA cluster for social entrepreneurship and a number of Split’s organizations of civil society (Most, Mi, Sunce, 50+>).

Detailed information about the schedule and method of implementation of activities will be available on www.domine.hr and www.zeneposao.com.

Croatian Government adopted the updated “Protocol in Cases of Sexual Violence” at the 181st session of congress held on September 4th 2014 at the proposal of the Office for Gender Equality.

“Protocol in Cases of Sexual Violence” is based on the laws and regulations of the Republic of Croatia, and on the obligations prescribed by the “National Policy for Gender Equality for the period from 2011 to 2015” and “Recommendation Rec (2002) 5 on the protection of women against violence in Council of Europe member states”.

The main objective of the “Protocol” is the introduction and implementation of standardized guidelines for all relevant bodies and institutions in the Republic of Croatia when dealing with the victims of sexual violence.

These relevant institutions in dealing with victims of sexual violence are: police, medical facilities (general and clinical hospitals, clinical hospital centers), judicial bodies (Court and State Attorney’s Office), social welfare centers, educational institutions and institutions that provide assistance and support in mental health care.

As a reminder, the Croatian Government first adopted the contents of the “Protocol” at its 64th meeting held on November 29th 2012, also at the suggestion of the Office for Gender Equality. However, with the entry into force of the new Penal Code, the Law on Amendments to the Law on Criminal Procedure, the Law on Social Welfare and Family Law, it was necessary to harmonize certain guidelines with the provisions of these laws, therefore, the Office for Gender Equality initiated the process of aligning the text of the Protocol, which is now in accordance to the said laws.

The updated “Protocol in Cases of Sexual Violence” can be found here. (Croatian version)

Women’s Association “IZVOR” from Tenja starts with a free professional training for verified occupations as a part of the project “Support the Social Inclusion of Persons Exposed to Domestic Violence” and invites all victims of domestic violence to join in.

The project objective is to improve the safety and efficiency of mechanisms for the protection of victims of domestic violence, with a special emphasis on women, and strengthening the support system for victims of domestic violence.

The program is conducted in cooperation with the City of Osijek, Department of Health and Social Welfare and the Croatian Employment Service, Regional Office Osijek. The program is financially supported by the Ministry of Social Policy and Youth of the Republic of Croatian.

The application form for the vocational training can be found at the web site of Women’s Associations ‘IZVOR’ (application), and then sent to the e-mail address zenska.udruga.izvor@gmail.com.

“Where Is the Love?” is an initiative created under the project “Young women are changing the world” organized by the Centre for Education, Counselling and Research in Zagreb (CESI) with support from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Youth and the City of Zagreb.

The goals of the initiative, “Where is the Love” are to inform, educate and raise awareness of young people about the problem of psychological, verbal and emotional violence in relationships.

Some signs of emotional violence are when your partner:

• offends you and criticizes you

• tells you what to wear, where to go, what to do

• decides who you can talk to

• is jealous or possessive

• prohibits you to spend time with your friends, expects you to spend time only with him/her

• constantly sending you texts, calling you to find out what you are doing (although it is not threatening, but it is too frequent)

• you “must” respond immediately to text because you are afraid that they will “go crazy”

• you feel responsible / accountable for their feelings

• everything is always about them and what they want to do

• looking at you or behaving in a way that frightens you

• tries to pressure you to have sex before you’re ready

• has a short fuse

• threatens to hurt you if you leave him/her

 

How to help yourself?

• Open your eyes – confess to yourself that hurtful things are happening in your relationship

• Pay attention to what your friends, family and people close to you are saying –if they are telling you that your relationship is violent, try to take off your rose-tinted glasses and see the actions of your partner as they really are.

• Understand that you are not to blame and do not deserve the violent actions of your partner

• Protect yourself from further violence. Think about your own safety.

• Find a supporting person you trust to help you emotionally and concretely about how to deal with what’s happening.

• Tell your partner that you will no longer tolerate such behavior. Set clear limits. (This advice is only applicable if you feel safe about it. If your partner has already been physically violent, telling him/her this might cause them to act so again. Try to get advice from a person you trust first.)

• Be realistic about the possibility of you changing your partner. Watch out that you do not take in the role of “savior” and “therapist” for your partner. It’s not your role. If your partner recognizes the need for psychological help with their violent behavior – that is great. But this insight itself does not mean that there will be an actual change. By staying with your partner, you’re probably still at risk of the same behavior.

• Do not think that you will not find someone better. This is not true! Each of us deserves good things and a relationship that does not hurt!

 

If you need help and someone to listen, you can contact:

Brave Phone (Hrabri telefon)

Advice Line for Children 116111

e-mail: hrabrisa@hrabritelefon.hr

 

Psychological center TESA (Psihološki centar TESA)

tel: 01/4828 888

e-mail: psiho.pomoc@tesa.hr

 

Blue Phone (Plavi telefon)

tel: 01 48 33 888

e-mail: plavi-telefon@zg.t-com.hr