AURORA Voices

Project is focused to strengthen local partners in four countries in Central Europe and local organisations and survivors’ advocacy with stakeholders responsible for development of rights-based, trauma-informed, and survivor-centered approaches to preventing and responding to violence against women and girls while improving public awareness of the various forms of violence and community response to their recognition.

Project approach is to consolidate advocacy within four countries by exposing regional partner consortium to mutual learning of good practices from the EU. Project invest in 20 grassroots NGOs and 100 professionals gaining capacities in building specific action plans responding to victims of crimes vulnerabilities.

Background and Problem Statement

Laws, Policies, Regulations, and Institutional Practices: As of June 2024, 39 countries have ratified the Istanbul Convention (IC), committing to develop laws, policies, and support services to end violence against women. Of the four countries included in project, only Romania has ratified status, while Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia are among the six countries to have signed–but not ratified–the Convention. The Convention is predicated on the idea that no one organization can address violence against women and girls alone–effective responses require coordinated action across governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders. Governments at the national and local levels need to be held accountable for devising and implementing holistic policies and measures for the prevention of, protection from, and prosecution of all forms of violence covered by the convention. Similarly, criminal justice responses lack specific measures to address each form of violence against women and hate based crime.

Program Objectives

Objective 1: Local NGOs in Central Europe constructively engage with officials on rights-based, trauma-informed, and survivor-centered approaches to preventing and responding to violence against women and girls

Objective 2: Local NGOs in project countries improve survivor-centered service delivery