Violence Against Women at work Let s talk about it! The mental health impacts of violence and harassment against women at work

Funded by

European Commission - DG Justice, Freedom and Security-
DAPHNE III Programme

Duration

24 Months, From January 2009 to December 2010

Summary

International surveys have found that between 40 and 90 per cent of women suffer some form of violence and harassment during the course of their working lives. Violence and harassment at work has immediate effects on the concerned women, including a lack of motivation, loss of confidence and reduced self-esteem, depression and anger, anxiety and irritability. In the same way as with stress, these symptoms are likely to develop into physical illness, mental disorders, tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse. They may culminate in occupational accidents, invalidity and even suicide.

In order to raise awareness of the harmful mental health impacts of violence and harassment against women in the work place, this project aims to carry out a targeted awareness raising campaign and to collect best practices for preventing mental health problems resulting from violence and harassment against women at work.

Objectives

• To raise awareness and to talk about a "hidden" problem, to promote attitudes of zero tolerance and thereby to prevent violence and harassment against women at work as well as mental health problems that result from it.

• To contribute to the protection of women against all forms of violence at work - (sexual) harassment, bullying and mobbing- and to promote mental health and well-being.

• To contribute to the development of the Community policies in the field of public health, employment and human rights through stimulating a serious debate at the national and EU level on the establishment of concrete, legislative measures in all the Member States to identify, prevent and manage problems of harassment and violence against women at work.

• To contribute to the prevention of violence against women at work in all its forms and to encourage attitudes and behaviours of zero tolerance to violence. To this end, the project will bring together and support cooperation between NGOs active in the field of mental health and those working with women, with national trade unions and employers' organisations as well as job centres and other health and social services.

• To develop and carry out an awareness raising campaign targeted at the key stakeholders with a view to improving understanding of the harmful mental health impacts of violence and harassment against women at work. The identification, collection and dissemination of best practices will contribute to the promotion of women's mental health and well-being and the prevention of mental health problems resulting from violence and harassment at work.

Activities and outcomes

Activities

The project will run for two years:

1) During the first year, information will be collected in each of the participating countries on the situation of violence and harassment against women at work. Furthermore, existing good practices will be identified and collected that have a focus on preventing mental health problems resulting from violence and harassment against women at the work place. The good practices will then be discussed in focus groups, organized in each partner country with the involvement of women suffering from mental health problems as a result of violence and harassment at work, in order to select the "best" practices based on predefined quality criteria.

2) During the second year, the selected "best" practices will be presented in a database as part of the project website, and they will be compiled in a booklet, together with general information about the link between violence and harassment against women at work and mental health problems.

• A poster will be created as part of the awareness raising campaign, which illustrates graphically the importance of preventing violence and harassment against women at work as well as mental health problems that result from it.

• The awareness raising tools - poster, booklet and database/website with best practices - will be translated in all the project languages and will be also available in English to reach other European countries.

• The awareness raising campaign will be launched with press conferences in each of the participating countries, and the awareness raising tools will be disseminated among (women) employees via the trade unions, job centres, NGOs, health and social services; reaching employers through the European and national employers' organisations; and among the general public in public spaces.

• The project will end with a European press conference combined with the final conference of the project. At this occasion, the outcomes of the project will be presented as well as the project's policy recommendations that are intended to stimulate debate at the national and EU level on the establishment of legislative measures in all the Member States to identify, prevent and manage problems of harassment and violence at work. Through collaboration with the European Network for Workplace Health promotion (ENWHP) and other European level organizations (ETUC, Business Europe, European Women's Lobby, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working conditions, The Social Platform), further mainstreaming would be ensured.

Expected Outcomes

It is expected that the project will increase awareness and understanding among (women) employees, employers, trade unions, employers' organisations, NGOs, health and social services and job centres, of the serious impacts of violence and harassment at work on women's mental health and well-being. Through a targeted awareness raising campaign the project will moreover promote the prevention of violence and harassment, and raise attitudes of zero tolerance among employers, workers as well as the general public witnessing violence and harassment against women at work. The project also intends to stimulate a serious debate at the national and EU level on the establishment of concrete, legislative measures to be implemented in all the Member States to identify, prevent and manage problems of harassment and violence at work.

Publications and documents

Project Poster: available in English, German, Greek, Lithuanian, Latvian, Romanian, Slovenian and Spanish

Booklet available in Cypriot, English, German, Greek, Lithuanian, Latvian, Romanian, Slovenian and Spanish

Policy Recommendations

Final Conference presentations

On 7th of December 2010, the project final conference took place at the European Parliament. Mr Milan Zver MEP kindly accepted to host this event.

Conference presentations: European Commission DG JLS, Mental Health Europe, SENT, SKALBES, VIDA, MHE Evaluator and ETUC

Lead organisation

Mental Health Europe

Partners

Pro Mente Austria, Austria
Advocacy Group for the Mentally Ill (AGFMI), Cyprus
Society for Mental Health and Social Psychiatry, Greece
SKALBES, Latvia 
State Mental Health Centre, Lithuania
Romanian League for Mental Health, Romania 
Slovenian Association for Mental Health (SENT), Slovenia
Asociacion Espanola de Neuropsiquiatria (AEN), Spain

The European Advisory Committee

Malgorzata Kmita, MHE Board member

Josée Van Remoortel, MHE Senior Policy Adviser,

Colette Versporten, MHE Board member

Françoise Vermeersch, Trade Union Belgium (Flanders)

Colette de Troy, Representative European Women's Lobby

Sara Riso, Representative of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions

Website

www.violence-against-women.org

Contact person

Alessia Faravelli, Project Coordinator

alessia.faravelli@mhe-sme.org