Responses to daily violence” “

Vandalism, forced prostitution, alcohol and drug abuse in schools, in the family and, more in general, in society: “The security of individuals is threatened in everyday life in many places and in various circumstances: at home, at school, at work, in sport, on the street”. The victims are especially women, children, the elderly, but also immigrants, refugees and non-EU groups. To further the campaign against violence and to implement policies of prevention and support for the victims in member states of the Union, the Council of Europe has set up a team of experts with the task of publishing a White Paper by the end of this year, with the title “Responses to daily violence in a democratic society”. The document will contain policy recommendations, guidelines, practical examples and specific procedures for intervention by national governments. The Council of Europe has selected eight European projects for the prevention of violence: NGOs and organizations from Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, Portugal, Slovenia, Germany, Switzerland and Austria are being involved. “It’s very difficult – LAURI SIVONEN , coordinator of the project, told SIR – to define a common trend in the light of the existing statistics on criminality in Europe. There are so many differences between country and country, between contexts and categories, that any kind of generalization is virtually impossible”. “But it’s also true – added Sivonen – that there are similarities that permit us to give practical responses, formulate policies for combating daily violence, and suggest targeted interventions to curb violence in cities, in domestic contexts, at school and in sporting events”. “The thing that has perhaps surprised me most – concluded Sivonen – has been the difficulty we have faced in gathering information on the phenomenon; we have had to struggle against extreme generalization and very poor documentation”. AUSTRIA: platform against violence in the family. It was established in Austria’s Ministry of the Family in 1993 and brings together 31 NGOs, of which 5 are based in Vienna. They promote agencies for the protection of childhood, counselling centres for women and associations for the elderly throughout the national territory, and cooperate to prevent and relieve psychological, sexual and physical violence against children, adolescents, women and the elderly. BULGARIA: the “Open Door” Centre for the support of women and children. The Centre was founded at Veliko Turnovo, a region of the country with a high unemployment rate and widespread poverty, in 1997. “Domestic” violence is fuelled in this context. It is calculated that 70% of crimes are committed against women and that 45% of these take place within the home. The percentage of women forced into prostitution is also very high. The services provided by the centre include a hotline for free assistance (on unemployment, health, violence and legal services), from which 2,735 persons have sought help since 1999. CROATIA: “promotion and protection of women’s rights”. The first victims of violence tend to be women in a country – such as Croatia – that only emerged from the war a few years ago. Violence – explains the project coordinator – claims victims in women of all ages and in various ways: rape, beating, sexual abuse, psychological violence. But only 20% of cases, e.g. those of sexual violence, are reported to the police. There are many social factors that influence social malaise: forced migration, unemployment, and widespread alcohol abuse. The Croatian project selected by the Council of Europe is being implemented at Korlovac in support of women: it offers them services of education and promotion of human rights, legal aid, a job-hunting service, and an SOS hotline that has taken 571 calls over the last five months. GERMANY: prevention of youth violence at school. The project originated at Cologne where a worrying increase of juvenile delinquency and criminality in schools is being registered. The project is a kind of partnership between police, youth associations and schools that together have established procedures for the presence of the police forces and associations within schools with the aim of reducing and preventing cases of criminality. The project has however encountered some difficulties on the part of school administrations that have expressed some reservations about the participation of local police forces in the project. ITALY: an exhibition to combat bullying. Vandalism, aggression, alcohol and drug abuse: they are all forms of juvenile delinquency associated with bullying. Bullying is a phenomenon that is increasing in all European countries; the children involved in it are becoming ever younger; it is even spreading to young girls. To combat the phenomenon, “Consolida” – a network of social cooperatives – has promoted a travelling exhibition (Milan, Florence, Bergamo, Trent), aimed at the youth world, with the title “Young toughs (boys and girls). Neither victims nor aggressors”. From the only existing research project on bullying, it emerges that it affects both big cities and small towns, nor are there any differences between big schools and smaller ones. The phenomenon has serious consequences both for the bullies themselves, who have three times more likelihood of ending up in the courts, and for the victims who easily fall prey to depression. PORTUGAL: prevention in the quarters at risk. The project was devised to respond to the growth of juvenile delinquency in the quarters most at risk, in particular in the districts of Oporto and Sétubal. It involves many partners: Ministry of Education, High Commissioner for Immigration and police forces. Here too the project is opting for the presence of the security forces in schools to combat violence, though flanked by young mediators and volunteers in the quarters most at risk and in schools with projects aimed at providing recreational activities and promoting youth clubs and associations SWEDEN: a “centre of support for young victims of crime”. In the late 1990s, the number of young people who were the victims of aggression by other youth “dramatically” increased, especially in urban areas. A Swedish report conducted on students revealed that over 10% of male teenagers and 5% of female teenagers, aged between 13 and 17, had suffered an aggression. The report also found that 80-90% of the victims reported feelings of hatred and desire for revenge, which stayed with them for a long time. The “centre of support for young victims of crime” was set up in this context: its aim is to prevent “today’s victims from becoming tomorrow’s aggressors”. The project started out from local police stations where the centre is able to monitor the denunciations made by young victims: the centre then sends a letter to the victim and his/her family with a brochure, offering help and counselling.