Project activities

The activities that will be undertaken:

Providing  adequate services to the victims

1.Providing  free hotline service

To set up state-wide free round-the-clock (24/7) telephone helplines to advise the callers (mainly women who have experienced violence and persons close to them, but also professionals who need information about gender based and domestic violence). The calls are received by the shelters’ staff members and volunteers to maximally use the existing competence. The persons answering the calls have undergone special training, During the first year of operation, the service will be available 12 hrs a day, the number of hours will be subsequently increased to 24 hrs a day.

Result: By the end of the project, victims of violence, the persons closest to them as well as professionals providing victim assistance will have access to 24/7 free helpline service where those answering the calls provide the victims emotional support, information on accessing support services across Estonia, guidance on dealing with relevant central and local government agencies and service providers as well as basic legal counselling. Hotline 1492 workers are able to provide consultations and assistance in Estonian and also in Russian.  

2. Ensuring pychological and legal counselling at all shelters

Expansion of the catalogue of services offered by women’s shelters with specialised legal and psychological counselling (incl counselling in Russian and services of a child psychologist) and offering the relevant services in all women’s shelters in order to enable the victims to escape violent relationships and provide them the professional help and support to do this.

Result: Victims of violence receive in the shelters, at least on the minimum level, professional psychological and legal counselling to help them cope with the trauma and break away from the cycle of violence; the victims receive assistance during the period of criminal prosecution. Legal counselling is available in all regions all over Estonia. 

3.Service description for shelters

Analysis of the services offered by women’s shelters to victims and development of service descriptions and common quality requirements on the basis of such an analysis in order to guarantee a consistently high level of specialised help for abused women and their children in all women’s shelters.

Result: Service description prepared and disseminated.  

To increase competence among spetcialists and improve co-operation

4. Training for  hotline and shelters’ staff

Regular in-service training for the shelters’ and hotline 1492 staff and psychologists and lawyers cooperating with them aimed at ensuring better teamwork and improved knowledge base to provide good quality assistance and support to victims of gender-based violence and domestic violence. We intend to organise two trainings for groups of 25 people annually where we invite lecturers from Norway, for example from the Krisesekretariat[1].

Result: The shelters’ and hotline service staff as well as the psychologists and lawyers cooperating with them possess comprehensive knowledge to deal with victims of violence and will be able to provide services tailored to the needs of the victim. Measurable by the number of participating specialists. 

5.Regional training

For members of the cooperation network (victim support workers, police officers, prosecutors, judges, social workers, child protection workers, medical professionals, professionals dealing with perpetrators, etc) in order to improve the efficiency of solving cases of violence in the legal system as well as the accessibility and quality of the help offered to victims in all Estonian counties.

Result: Four trainings are organized all over Estonia for different target groups of specialists who deal with victims of gender-based violence.  

6. Cascade training model, women ´s shelters

A system of training the trainers. The Norwegian training packages and courses should be implemented through a model that makes sure the continuity to the benefit of new recruits to the shelters. There will be one training module per year.

Result: Cascade training model makes sure the continuity to the benefit of new recruits to the centres.  

7. Supervision for shelters and hotline staff

Organising regular supervision of women’s shelters, the helpline 1492, the lawyers and psychologists who help victims in order to avoid burnouts of employees and guarantee good quality service to victims. Result: Preventive measures will be in place helping avoid burnout by shelters’ and hotline workers, effective teamwork and quality of service ensured.  

8. Study tour to Norway

Study tour to Norway for shelters’ and helpline staff, and the lawyers and psychologists who cooperate with us, in order to improve and harmonise the quality of the help offered to victims in shelters.

Result: Professionals trained and familiar with the Norwegian experience of victim support, daily practices of Norwegian shelters and relevant parts of the victim service.  

Raising awareness among victims and the general public

9. Improving information dissemination

Creation of homepages for all shelters and disseminating information about available help on the homepages of shelters and via printed and electronic media to help people identify and detect incidences of violence.

9.1 Developing a website for each women’s shelter so that persons in need of assistance can get an idea of the help available and living conditions in the shelters. Such websites could also offer additional knowledge about violence to the public.

9.2 Improving existing websites of the EWSU and shelters which will ensure easy and up-to-date access to information and services provided on gender based domestic violence by the EWSU and other relevant organisations. All the statistical data, analysis and research reports as well as the final report of the project will be put up on websites as well.

9.3 Producing and disseminating information materials, guidelines, in the form of information leaflets, posters and business cards providing information about the EWSU, contact information for women’s shelters and other options for helping victims in order to guarantee that the information reaches everyone who needs help.

Result:   Information is disseminated through websites.  

10. Translation of Norwegian documents and information materials

Translation into Estonian of Norwegian documents about violence against women and information materials such as standards of women’s shelters, guidelines for helping victims, etc in order to inform the public and relevant professionals in Estonia.

Result: Materials prepared and disseminated. Estonia´s victim support organizations able to use Norwegian experience. 

11. Annual conference for shelter staff and other stakeholders

The organisation of annual conferences that focus on the various aspects of violence against women and domestic violence in connection with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November in order to highlight the problem for the general public and promote an attitude of non-tolerance of violence, to  introduce the experience of Norway in Estonia, to initiate discussions that concern the various aspects of violence and offer solutions, to involve various key actors and target groups (politicians, journalists, professionals who deal with victims of violence and perpetrators, etc.) in solving the problems.

Result: Conference organized every year.  

12. Evaluation

Survey to measure the outcome of the project.

Result: Survey prepared and conducted. Survey carried out at the beginning and at the end of the programme to measure increase in the awareness.