Project name: Stop the cycle of violence
Project Number: DGV03019
Project Partner Organizations:
Kiwi – Development Support Center and the Slovak&Friends Agency Cooperating Norwegian Organization: Alternative to Violence (Alternativ til Vold)
The project “Stop the Cycle of Violence” has been awarded a grant from Norway in the amount of €577,704. The project is co-financed by 15 percent from the state budget of the Slovak Republic.
The project’s goal is to improve services, as well as awareness and understanding of the impact of domestic violence on children, thereby addressing the intergenerational transmission of gender-based and domestic violence. The project also aims to expand and enhance counseling and therapeutic services provided to women experiencing violence and their children.
More about the social need for the project:
Modern human rights approaches consider children living in violent relationships as victims, even if they are not directly physically abused. The explanatory report to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence states: “Exposure to physical, sexual, or psychological violence and abuse between parents or other family members has a serious impact on children. It generates fear, causes trauma, and adversely affects their development. The concept of ‘child witnesses’ not only refers to children present during violence and directly witnessing it but also to those exposed to the screams and other sounds of violence while hiding nearby or those exposed to the long-term consequences of such violence. The dynamics of parents and family significantly influence the development and lives of young people. Children and adolescents seek guidance from their parents, family, and other adults—consciously or unconsciously—on how to behave. They turn to others, seeking appropriate behavior, set by social norms to which we all adhere. Children absorb what they learn and observe, following their role models as a guide to social behavior. When young people witness and experience violence at home—a place that should provide care, safety, and a sense of belonging—they may learn that home is a place of fear, pain, and instability. They may replicate this aggressive, violent behavior in other aspects of their lives, such as bullying at school or later in life during dating or partner violence.”
Young people exposed to violence during their formative years—from childhood to young adulthood—learn a powerful lesson that violence can be an effective tool for control in relationships (CARE Report: Intergenerational Transmission of GBV). These facts reflect the “cycle of violence” or “intergenerational transmission of violence,” where children mimic and repeat their parents’ behavior, contributing to the transmission of violence from one generation to another. Interventions that disrupt this cycle are crucial in preventing further violent behavior. In addition to the impact of domestic violence on children themselves, children in violent relationships are often exploited by the violent partner to control and blackmail the woman, preventing the reporting of violence. The custody battle for children is often nothing more than another form of violent behavior and power control by the abuser. Unfortunately, the relatively low awareness of this issue in Slovak courts often leads to a common situation where, in the case of a divorce from a violent marriage, the father’s parental rights are prioritized over the safety and integrity protection of women and their children. Abusive behavior—control that began in marriage—continues after divorce, leading to stigmatization and ongoing stress for women and children. Our project will address these issues through three main pillars: prevention, education, and intervention.
Prevention
The impact of domestic violence on children will be highlighted through a targeted campaign. The campaign will be designed by the project partner Slovak&Friends, an innovative PR agency in Slovakia specializing in socially responsible advertising. The goal of the campaign is to challenge the stereotype of a good father (“he is a good father, he doesn’t harm children”). The primary target audience includes decision-makers such as judges, lawyers, social workers, and policymakers. The aim is to help them understand how a violent partner exploits the custody battle for further control and abuse of the mother. The main objective of the campaign is to ensure that judicial authorities do not issue orders for contact or custody rights without considering cases of violence between partners. These are court orders regulating contact between children and their parents and other individuals in a familial relationship with the children. Among other factors, incidents of violence against the non-violent caregiver and the child itself must be taken into account when deciding on custody and the extent of visitation rights (Explanatory Report to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence).
Education
Preventing the intergenerational transmission of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) will focus on exposing gender norms and stereotypes, providing knowledge and skills to young people to recognize healthy relationships and cope with unhealthy ones, raising awareness of community services, and emphasizing non-violent conflict resolution and communication skills. The project partner KIWI will support positive parenting and childcare skills to break the cycle of violence. Parenting programs will include skills for good parenting and child guidance: identification and recording of problematic behavior at home; positive reinforcement; application of non-violent disciplinary methods; supervision and monitoring of children’s behavior; and the use of negotiation and problem-solving strategies.
Intervention
The project will ensure a higher quality of counseling services for women and their children, which AŽS (Alternatívna ženská skupina – Alternative Women’s Group) already provides. As part of the project, Norwegian practices in working with children in violent relationships will be implemented, taking into account the Slovak conditions. Another project partner, KIWI, will expand its work with children, overseeing therapy and psychological treatment for children who witness partner violence, aiming to reduce the negative impact of exposure to violence and decrease the likelihood that exposed children will perpetrate violence in their lives. After the project concludes, KIWI will be able to provide counseling services to women and their children experiencing domestic violence. AŽS will supervise the employees of KIWI to ensure compliance with the standards of the Council of Europe.
In the Štúrovo region, where no services are currently available, a new center for gender-based violence services will be established. KIWI, the project’s partner, an established counseling center for disadvantaged children, will expand its services to provide counseling to women experiencing domestic violence. Initially, KIWI employees will be educated to work with women who have survived violence, and additional training and therapy for children will be provided. Education will also focus on improving awareness and knowledge of gender-based and domestic violence, with a particular emphasis on children who witness violence against their mothers.
Take a look at the project contract (in Slovak; pdf)
Review Addendum No. 1/2023 (in Slovak) No. 1684/2023 to Project Contract No. 1907/2022 for Project DGV03019
Watch the recording of the project’s Opening Conference (in Slovak)
Norwegian grants represent Norway’s contribution to a green, competitive, and inclusive Europe.
Through the Norwegian Grants, Norway contributes to reducing economic and social disparities and strengthening mutual relationships with beneficiary states in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic region.
Norway closely collaborates with the EU through the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement. Together with other donors, Norway provided a total of 3.3 billion euros through grant schemes from 1994 to 2014. Norwegian grants are funded exclusively by Norway and are available in countries that joined the EU after 2003. For the period 2014-2021, Norwegian grants amount to 1.25 billion euros.
The priorities for this period are: » Innovation, research, education, and competitiveness » Social inclusion, youth employment, and poverty eradication » Environment, energy, climate change, and low-carbon economy » Culture, civil society, good governance, and fundamental rights » Justice and internal affairs
All projects are co-financed by 15% from the state budget of the Slovak Republic.
Aliancia žien Slovenska 