Project Lili - Life in Light

Women’s Empowerment

Our project addresses an important socio-political problem in Austrian society – violence against women.

According to a survey by Eurostat and the Federal Chancellery (2021) and Statistics Austria (2003), there was an alarmingly high prevalence rate of violence against women in Austria in 2021. 3 245 166 women participated in this study. 36.92% of these women stated that they were victims of psychological violence between the ages of 18 and 74. 26.59% reported sexual harassment in the workplace and 16.41% were victims of physical and/or sexual violence in intimate relationships. When looking back on their lives to date, many women reported that they had been victims of physical (23.47%) and/or sexual violence (23.75%) since the age of fifteen. Furthermore, there were 29 murders of women in Austria in 2022. These alarming figures illuminate the need to combat violence against women in society.

Women with language barriers or illiteracy were not included in the addressed survey, so we expect the number including unreported cases to be even much higher. It is important that women with language barriers are also informed about their rights, the psychological dynamics of violence and help options in order to protect themselves against violence in a timely manner or to help affected acquaintances.

In the realm of violence prevention, we want to support women living in Austria with language barriers by sensitizing them to this important topic through multilingual, evidence-based psychoeducational lectures and webinars and by mediating between support networks. The addressed group of women will be educated about the various forms of violence, how to prevent it, the first warning signs and the psychological effects. They will also be informed about treatment options and the help offered by psychosocial and governmental organizations in Carinthia. All interactive, gamified lectures will be held in Farsi, Dari, Ukrainian and Russian by culturally sensitive, psychologically trained lecturers whose first languages correspond to those of the participants. This makes communication easier and improves the learning atmosphere and the bond with the participants. Dialogue in the first languages of women should also ensure a high quality of knowledge transfer. We lay great emphasis on a positive and cordial learning relationship and an appreciative and warm learning atmosphere.

Project Lili - Life in Light

Multilingual Psychoeducation

NGO HOPE offers multilingual psychoeducational lectures that provide clients evidence-based knowledge about mental disorders (according to ICD 11 guidelines) that occur frequently and are often associated with difficulties in the migration experience. The core topics here will be post-traumatic stress disorder, affective disorders such as depressive episodes (including comorbidities such as addiction disorders), anxiety disorders and panic attacks, forms of violence (including women and youth protection laws), emergency and crisis management (skills training, emergency kit) and attachment patterns (mother-child bonding) and psychological relationship theories.

All interactive, gamified lectures will be held in Farsi/Dari, Ukrainian and Russian by culturally sensitive, psychologically trained lecturers whose first languages correspond to those of the participants. This makes communication easier and improves the learning atmosphere and the bond with the participants. Dialogue in the first languages of students should also ensure a high quality of knowledge transfer. We lay great emphasis on a positive and cordial learning relationship and an appreciative and warm learning atmosphere.