Men standing up for gender equality -
Amplifying changes
The project in short
The MFGE-AC project is the second phase of the MFGE project. As for phase I, MFGE-AC mainly aims to promote the involvement of men in the fight against violence against women.
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The project is carried out by a consortium of three women's rights associations: FEA in France, Lessan eV in Germany and Himilo Foundation in the Netherlands. Lessan eV is project coordinator.
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The project is co-financed by the European Union for a period of 2 years, from March 2022 to February 2024.
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It will be implemented simultaneously in Hamburg, Amsterdam and Paris by FEA. European-wide advocacy activities will take place as part of the project.
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The activities concern:
the recruitment, training and support of mediators and champions from migrant and refugee populations;
the organization of awareness-raising workshops led by these mediators and champions among other men;
training of professionals and
the dissemination of a communication campaign on social networks.
New features in this phase II of the project
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Based on the findings made during phase I, new activities were integrated in order to improve the general public's awareness of violence against migrant and refugee women and the care they receive.
The new activities will concern:
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the opening of a reception and guidance service for women victims of violence and suffering from psychotrauma;
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an online game about violence against women during migration;
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a self-diagnosis and guidance application for women victims of violence and
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the writing of two new training modules for professionals on domestic violence and psychological first aid.
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Who are the mediators and champions of the MFGE-AC project?
8 new mediators and 5 champions were recruited through a communication campaign aimed at partners and on social networks and by word of mouth. Some have been co-opted by former mediators.
The champions were recruited among the mediators of phase I. Others were recruited thanks to their experience and activism on related subjects linked to the fight against violence against women. They play the role of mentors for new mediators by passing on their experience and advice for their awareness-raising. This role also allows them to strengthen their capacities through mentoring and support of mediators
The 13 mediators and champions come from Burkina Faso, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Angola, Sudan, Algeria, Afghanistan and Russia.
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A reception and orientation service , for what? for who ?
The new reception service complements FEA's action, which goes from raising awareness to caring for victims through the training of professionals. It will offer reception within the framework of MFGE-AC funding for all women victims of violence. The service will offer an initial psychosocial diagnosis appointment followed, depending on the needs, by individual monitoring and group support.
Group support may involve discussion groups, well-being and self-esteem workshops, psycho-corporal workshops, art therapy, sexology workshops.
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The service opened in November 2022 with two days of operation on Wednesdays and Fridays. A support officer has been recruited to take charge of this service.