In the months of April and May 2016 D.i.Re organized 7 training courses aimed at the workers, activists and volunteers of the anti-violence centers of their association.
Born as a space for discussion, study and exchange of network activists D.i.Re Thanks to the support of CONAD, the Courses, traveling in various Italian cities, made training possible from April to June, overcoming the difficulties that the Centers encounter in organizing and supporting the requests of their operators and volunteers.
The project was born from this reflection, preceded by an on-line survey on the themes and topics of greatest interest for the training needs in the centers.
After an analysis and a comparison on the experts present inside the network D.i.Re and the events were built on the trainers close to the Centers, also bearing in mind the need to involve the various cities of Italy as headquarters, in order to encourage the participation and involvement of as many interested women as possible.
The cities chosen were Milan, Palermo, Naples, Rome, Bologna, Rome and Venice, also based on the host Centers and available to collaborate in the preparation of the training days. Very large was the participation and the interest shown from the first e-mails announcing the courses: many registrations, up to very soon being sold out.
The free enrollment and attendance of the training days for women has certainly favored the high level of participation and the success of the initiative, even if each center had, in any case, to face travel and accommodation costs. The high quality of the teaching offered made it possible to train with a significant impact of empowerment for all, especially for the Centers which otherwise would not have been able to meet the expected, fairly substantial expenses.
The interest aroused was high e D.i.Re unfortunately he was forced not to accept the numerous requests from other centers not belonging to the network. The courses were attended by young people, operators, collaborators, volunteers, very committed and motivated activists, who visibly launched a reassuring signal of the generational leap that is about to be made within the Centers.
Seminars that involved a very low number of participants as they were based on relational work, such as the two courses conducted by Lepa Mladjenovic on sexual violence and violence in intimate relationships between lesbians, had double the number of participants (over 40) of what it was possible to admit. Surely personal growth, hospitality are fundamental points and the request made was to repeat the courses on these very important issues in the Centers.
The Naples course, always linked to hospitality, where the theme of migrants was studied in depth, of increasing importance for all centers, provided adequate reading tools for intervention.
The training held in Palermo revealed the increasingly strategic role for the public recognition of the Centers on local networks. The course on technological communication held in Bologna was also sold out, even if it was aimed at those who manage the sites, social networks and communication of their association. The last two courses, always technical, one on fundraising held in Milan, and the other on social planning, in Venice, have given many tools for the development and growth of their associations. Definitely two cities that are not easy for logistics which has demotivated several members to give up due to very high accommodation prices.
The 185 participants, involved not only by the teachers, but by the positive atmosphere and exchange with the other women of the Centers, especially appreciated the comparison of experiences. The only sore point, we are 75 centers, it would have been very nice if all centers had been able to participate in at least one course, but due to difficulties 27 of them were completely absent. Sin! Maybe next time we need to get them involved.
Anna Pramstrahler
Training course sheet:
- Violence in intimate relationships between lesbians (9-10 April, Rome)
- What does fundraising mean. A toolbox of basic principles and techniques for setting up a fundraising strategy in anti-violence centers (15-16 April, Milan)
- Sexual violence: Understanding and healing of trauma. Counseling with a feminist approach for women victims of sexual violence (23-24 April, Bologna)
- Working with migrant women. The anti-violence centers in the challenge of the changes taking place (6 - 7 May, Naples)
- Networking as an operational and strategic tool for anti-violence centers (13 -14 May, Palermo)
- Digital communication oriented to anti-violence centers (21-22 May, Bologna)
- Social planning: How to orient in times of crisis. A laboratory for the workers of the anti-violence centers (May 26-27, Venice)