L’Oréal Fund for Women Supports the Work of AŽKZ Women’s Shelter and Counselling Centre

For the second consecutive year, the L’Oréal Fund for Women has supported AWHZ through the project “Direct Support to Women Survivors of Partner Violence in Shelters and Counselling Centre.” This project provides direct support to women survivors of intimate partner violence. In the Shelter, women are safe from violence and housed at a confidential location with their children, who have also been exposed to violence. All services are free and include food, hygiene products, other essential items, psychosocial support, psychological counselling and therapy, legal advice, and court representation. At our Counselling Centre, we offer free telephone, legal, and psychological counselling as well as emotional support, protecting women who have survived violence from secondary victimization and intimidation. Zero tolerance towards violence against women is promoted through social media campaigns, public events, and media work.

The one-year project began in September 2023 and has achieved the following results in the first nine months:

• Shelter: Provided accommodation to 10 women and 17 children. Conducted 321 advisory sessions and 34 group meetings with women. Provided 118 group and 286 individual sessions for children, including trauma processing, drama-pedagogical, and creative-educational empowerment workshops.
• Helpline (116016): Advised 1,546 women who survived violence.
• Media: Appeared 324 times to spread information about women’s rights.
• Event: Held a round table in the Croatian Parliament in December 2023, marking the 33rd anniversary of AWHZ, where it was highlighted that AWHZ has become the holder of the National Call Centre for Help for Victims of Violence against Women.
• Legal Aid: Provided free legal assistance to 10 women and 17 children in the shelter, and to women who contacted our counselling centre. Women in the counselling centre received 529 legal consultations, and 96 submissions were written to the relevant authorities on their behalf. Represented women and children in the shelter in 9 court hearings and prepared 49 submissions and letters to courts and institutions.
• Psychological Assistance: Provided psychological help to 10 women in the shelter and to women in the counselling centre, totalling 113 psychological counselling sessions.
• Communication with institutions: Assisted women and children in interactions with social, judicial, police, health, educational, and other institutions to help them exercise their rights. Conducted a total of 795 interventions on behalf of women with institutions.
• Legal Advocacy: Monitored law implementation and wrote proposals for amendments based on our analyses and observations. Worked on analysing national legislation compliance with international conventions. Prepared two shadow reports for the UN Human Rights Committee on violence against women, trafficking of women, sexual violence against women during war, the status of migrant women, and women’s reproductive rights.