Episodes 07 to 12
Language: English
Description
In this episode, the podcast explores how research can inform gender-sensitive support for victims of domestic and intimate partner violence.
Recorded in Lisbon, Portugal, host Anna joins a study visit with 2gether4victims partners, bringing listeners directly into the collaborative environment where experts share knowledge and exchange best practices across Europe.
Guests include Dr. Ramunė Jakštienė, Associate Professor at Mykolas Romeris University (Vilnius, Lithuania), who contributes expertise in gender and victim support systems through teaching, research, and practice, and Nicole van Gelder, Researcher at Slachtofferhulp Nederland, who focuses on applying evidence and data to improve services for victims of intimate partner violence in the Netherlands.
The discussion delves into the findings of the 2gether4victims project, highlighting what makes victim support responsive to the diverse needs of women, men, LGBTQ+ individuals, and persons with disabilities. Key indicators of gender-sensitive practices are explored across policy, program design, service delivery, and evaluation, alongside practical examples from the Netherlands, including specialized centers, tailored interventions, and inclusive online platforms.
This episode offers actionable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers on bridging research and practice to develop support systems that are equitable, trauma-informed, and intersectional. Listeners will gain strategies, best practices, and expert perspectives to enhance support for all victims of gender-based and domestic violence.
Credits
The narrators:
- Greta Hirschberg (Anna), VSE
- Aine Hanrahan (Anna), VSE
- Dylan Power (Narrator), VSE
Guests:
- Ramunė Jakštienė, (Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania)
- Nicole van Gelder (Victim Support Netherlands)
Podcast director: Sara Maino, Multimedia Artist
Text: Marina Kazakova, VSE
Music attribution: Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm, freesfx.co.uk and Sara Maino
Sound effects: bbc.co.uk – © [2024] BBC https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search freesound_community from Pixabay, Sara Maino
Transcript
Innovation in Motion: Enhancing Support with Organisational Self-Assessment Tools
Language: English
Description
In this episode, the podcast explores the Tool Development phase of the 2gether4victims project, focusing on Organizational Self-Assessment (OSA) tools that help victim support organizations evaluate and strengthen their gender-sensitive practices.The episode was recorded in Lisbon, Portugal, where host Anna joins a study visit with 2gether4victims partners, giving listeners a first-hand sense of the collaboration and exchange of expertise happening across Europe.
She speaks with Leonor Costa, Project Manager at APAV – Victim Support Portugal, who shares insights into how these tools are designed to identify gaps in organizational approaches, ensure that assessment results lead to real improvements, and overcome challenges during development. Leonor also explains how APAV’s OSA tools can be adapted to national and local contexts across Europe.
Listeners will discover how self-assessment tools can drive tangible change, promote more equitable and responsive support, and empower organizations to better meet the needs of all victims of gender-based violence.
Credits
The narrators:
- Greta Hirschberg (Anna), VSE
- Aine Hanrahan (Anna), VSE
- Dylan Power (Narrator), VSE
Contributions (field recordings):
- Jurgita Gaputienė (Veda Vidus, Lithuania)
Guest: Leonor Costa (APAV)
Podcast director: Sara Maino, Multimedia Artist
Text: Marina Kazakova, VSE
Music attribution: Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm, freesfx.co.uk and Sara Maino
Sound effects: bbc.co.uk – © [2024] BBC https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search freesound_community from Pixabay, Sara Maino
Transcript
Innovation in Motion: Enhancing Support with Individual Support Self-Assessment (INA)
Language: English
Description
In this episode, the podcast explores the Tool Development phase of the 2gether4victims project, focusing on the Individual Needs Assessment (INA) tool, designed to help support providers respond to the needs of victims in a gender-sensitive, trauma-informed, and individualized way. Recorded in Lisbon, Portugal, host Anna joins a study visit with 2gether4victims partners, giving listeners a first-hand sense of the collaboration and exchange of expertise happening across Europe.
The discussion delves into how the INA tool was developed by Women’s Room, a specialized organization from Croatia, in close collaboration with partners across Europe. The tool helps support providers identify and respond to the specific needs of victims of gender-based and domestic violence, taking into account safety, psychological and physical well-being, practical needs, and long-term recovery. Listeners learn how the tool addresses common misconceptions about GBV/DV, challenges stereotyping, and ensures that support is tailored to the unique circumstances of women, men, and non-binary individuals.
Throughout the episode, the importance of a gender-sensitive and intersectional approach is emphasized, illustrating how understanding the role of gender, societal norms, and systemic inequalities improves the quality of support. Practical guidance is provided on how the INA tool can be applied in both specialized and non-specialized services, complementing existing national legislation while ensuring equitable access to services for all victims.
This episode offers actionable insights for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers, highlighting how structured, collaborative, and evidence-based tools like the INA can make victim support more responsive, inclusive, and effective. Listeners gain an in-depth view of the practical application, benefits, and ongoing refinement of the INA tool, while experiencing the dynamic environment of European partners learning and innovating together to enhance support for survivors of gender-based and domestic violence.
Credits
The narrators:
- Greta Hirschberg (Anna), VSE
- Aine Hanrahan (Anna), VSE
- Dylan Power (Narrator), VSE
Guests:
- Jasmina Cerimagic (Womens’s Room, Croatia)
Podcast director: Sara Maino, Multimedia Artist
Text: Marina Kazakova, VSE
Music attribution: Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm, freesfx.co.uk and Sara Maino
Sound effects: bbc.co.uk – © [2024] BBC https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search freesound_community from Pixabay, Sara Maino
Transcript
Learning to Support: Building Better Responses to Gender-Based Violence
Language: English
Description
In this episode, the podcast explores how European organisations are learning from each other to provide better support for victims of domestic and gender-based violence. Recorded in Lisbon, Portugal, host Anna joins a study visit with 2gether4victims partners, bringing listeners directly into the collaborative environment where experts exchange knowledge, share practical experiences, and observe innovative approaches in action.
The discussion highlights the value of study visits, showing how professionals from across Europe — including NGOs, social services, police, and justice representatives — come together to see first hand how victim support is delivered in different contexts. Guests Bruno Monteiro from Victim Support Europe and Emilija Kazancevė from Veda Vidus (formerly, KSPSC) share examples from visits to Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, and Portugal, illustrating practical strategies, coordinated services, and inclusive approaches that make a real difference for victims.
Listeners get an inside look at good practices, from trauma-informed care and gender-sensitive routines to proactive outreach, effective coordination between organisations, and long-term support systems. The episode also emphasizes mutual learning, showing how small changes observed abroad can inspire meaningful improvements at home.
This episode offers insights for practitioners, policymakers, and anyone interested in victim support, demonstrating how collaboration, observation, and exchange across Europe can strengthen services and ensure victims receive timely, empathetic, and effective support.
Credits
The narrators:
- Greta Hirschberg (Anna), VSE
- Aine Hanrahan (Anna), VSE
- Dylan Power (Narrator), VSE
Guests:
- Bruno Monteiro (VSE)
- Emilija Kazancevė (Veda Vidus, Lithuania)
Contributions (field recordings):
- Miren Špek (Victim and Witness Support Service Croatia)
- Maja Stahan (Victim and Witness Support Service Croatia)
Podcast director: Sara Maino, Multimedia Artist
Text: Marina Kazakova, VSE
Music attribution: Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm, freesfx.co.uk and Sara Maino
Sound effects: bbc.co.uk – © [2024] BBC https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search freesound_community from Pixabay, Sara Maino
Transcript
Piloting Progress: Implementing and Refining Tools for GBV/DV Support
Language: English
Description
In this episode, the podcast dives deep into the conversations about the Organisational Self Assessment (OSA) tool that has been developed as part of the 2Gether4Victims project and introduced in ep. 8. The aim of the tool is to help victim support organisations evaluate and strengthen their gender-sensitive practices. This time, the focus is on the practical implementation of the OSA tool into the daily operations of victim support organisations – the piloting process.
To fully understand the piloting process, and all the preparations behind it, Anna joins the 2Gether4Victims partners in Lisbon, Portugal, where a large-scale training event – the Spring School, is taking place with over 50 participants. Participants include representatives of 10 organisations that are members of the 2Gether4Victims consortium, as well as 11 external organisations who were recently recruited to pilot the project tools within their organisations.
This episode explores the part of the training dedicated to the OSA tool aiming at providing frontline support workers with the necessary guidelines and resources to efficiently support victims of GBV. During the training, participants get the chance to design practical action plans, based on the OSA questionnaire, helping organisations identify components of an ideal support service, and the steps necessary to implement them.
Throughout the episode, Anna engages in conversations with the authors of the tool, trainers, and training participants. The need to apply intersectional lenses at all phases of designing a victim support organisation emerges as a key takeaway of the event. Listeners also get a chance to hear about the hopes for the future related to the implementation of the project tools – setting up common support standards and indicators of success across Europe, for the benefit of all GBV and DV victims seeking help.
Credits
The narrators:
- Aine Hanrahan (Anna)
- Dylan Power (Narrator)
Guests:
-
Ana de Deus Silva and Ana Paula Martins, (Opus Diversidades)
-
Rogers Kasagga and Susan Atugura, (People Like Us)
-
Aleksandra Ivankovic (VSE)
Contributions (field recordings):
- Patrricia Pazos (VSE)
Podcast director: Sara Maino, Multimedia Artist
Text: Patrycja Kowalczyk, VSE
Music attribution: Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm, freesfx.co.uk and Sara Maino
Sound effects: bbc.co.uk – © [2024] BBC https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search freesound_community from Pixabay, Sara Maino
Putting Needs First: Implementing the INA Tool in Practice
Language: English
Description
In this episode, the podcast dives deep into the conversations about the Individual Needs Assessment (INA) tool that has been developed as part of the 2Gether4Victims project and introduced in ep. 9. The tool provides a structured, yet flexible framework that helps professionals identify and understand the full range of a victim’s needs. The goal of the INA tool is quite simple, but very powerful – to ensure that every victim is seen as an individual, that no important need is overlooked, and that the support they receive is meaningful, appropriate, and timely. This time, the focus is on the practical implementation of the INA tool into the daily operations of victim support organisations – the piloting process.
Continuing her journey throughout Europe, our host, Anna, participates in a large-scale training event – the Spring School, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal and joined by over 50 participants. Participants include representatives of 10 organisations that are members of the 2Gether4Victims consortium, as well as 11 external organisations who were recently recruited to pilot the project tools within their organisations.
This episodes is dedicated to the part of the training that prepares participants to implement the INA tool in their day-to-day work with victims. The objective is to enable experienced frontline professionals to confidently apply the tool in real-life contexts, using a victim-centred, trauma-informed, gender-sensitive approach, and to adapt it pragmatically to their organisational reality.
Anna speaks with 2Gether4Victims partners, trainers, and the external training participants, gaining practical understanding of how it feels to put oneself in the shoes of a frontline worker who is assessing a victim’s needs. Through tools like the INA, and the approaches behind it, the interaction becomes more focused on the person – not just on the trauma of violence they have experienced.
Credits
The narrators:
- Aine Hanrahan (Anna), VSE
- Dylan Power (Narrator), VSE
Guests:
- Miren Špek (Victim and Witness Support Service Croatia)
Contributions (field recordings):
-
Bruno Monteiro (VSE)
-
Joane Vella and Claire Sammut (Victim Support Malta)
Podcast director: Sara Maino, Multimedia Artist
Text: Patrycja Kowalczyk, VSE
Music attribution: Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm, freesfx.co.uk and Sara Maino
Sound effects: bbc.co.uk – © [2024] BBC https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search freesound_community from Pixabay, Sara Maino
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