Keywords

• Beneficiaries  Children  Women 

Comments

The project aimed to prevent the phenomenon of violence against women (especially younger ones) travelling in Europe.  This was to be done by developing information tools that were user-friendly and practical for police and healthcare workers supporting victims of violence. The tools were designed to be adaptable for use in the countries of origin of the transnational partners in the project.
The project aimed also:
·  To disseminate the products developed both in Italy and in the partner countries;
·  To involve Italian agencies abroad, such as the Italian Institutes for Culture, so that they may share responsibilities vis-à-vis this serious problem of violence against women and take action in presenting and disseminating the material produced;
·  To carry out an assessment of the project, by involving the people to whom the brochure was distributed;
·  To involve institutional agencies, such as the Region and the Municipality of Rome, inviting them to sensitise operators called to assist and support the victims of violence;
·  To involve the world of sport associations, where there is an increasing participation of young women.
The project developed materials of different types, including:
·  An information brochure, Europa Rosa 2000, addressed to women and to operators(Italian, English, French and Spanish);
·  A demonstration video;
·  An interactive web page: www.telefonorosa.org.
The information brochure provides useful information to women on ways to protect themselves against possible violence (violence against property, such as bag snatching, robberies, or physical violence). It also offers recommendations to operators as to the attitude they should adopt when dealing with distressed people who go to them for help. The brochure also includes a list of useful addresses and telephone numbers in a practical and detachable card that can be easily kept in the purse. 
The video in Italian and English, as well as in Italian with subtitles in French, was designed to show different dangerous situations that may occur when travelling. It shows a coach journey from Rome to Warsaw, people wandering in peripheral boroughs of Lisbon, the dangers one may encounter in Seville, girls remaining alone on Nice sea-front promenade, etc. The video does not depict any violent scenes; it simply outlines some dangerous circumstances, with a view to stimulating debate among young spectators on protective behaviours.

Lessons and Ideas

1. This project interestingly took the opportunity of a major national event to develop and use the products.  The booklet was distributed to women who arrived in Rome for the 2000 Jubilee. It was also distributed in Roman schools. It was distributed in several sport events in Italy and was also attached to the Italian Volley Ball League journal and sent to all subscribers.  The partner associations also distributed the booklet. 500 post-cards with comments were received back from European countries.
2. As a result of this campaign, the Municipality of Rome funded another Telefono Rosa project including a similar booklet specifically devoted to Roman girls on how to deal with violence and abuse in the city.
3. A language/translation problem arose from the Spanish translation of the booklet where the term gitanos may be interpreted with a negative meaning. This was considered offensive by some people in Spain. The lead organisation stresses that in the text the negative meaning does not refer to all gitanos but to some gitanos. It stresses also that it did not succeed in finding a different Spanish word for gypsies. Translation is a challenge in transnational projects and should be undertaken carefully.

Website

• Prevention of violence against women and young people . Practical advice - Europa Rosa 2000
  

Organisations

• Lead organisation
    Associazione Nazionale Volontarie Telefono Rosa
  
• Partner(s)
    ALC - SPRS Accompagnement Lieux d'Accueil Carrefour Éducatif & Social
    AMUVI - Asistencia a victims de Agressiones Sexuales Centro Taracea
    Centrum Praw Kobiet - Women's Rights Centre - Poland
    On the Safe Side
  
• Associated Partner
    Civil Society Development Foundation - Roumania
  

Material Available

· Brochure: Europa Rosa 2000 (Italian, French, Spanish and English)
· Video: Looking for Eve
· Web page

Documents

• Final-report_1999-330.PDF    (38 KB)     

Multimedia

  Cercando Eva