On July 31st, we joined Porcianukolovo manifestation in city of Cakovec and organized a public action as part of the project “Support and Cooperation Network for Victims and Witnesses of Crimes”. The public action was organized by our head of the Varazdin office and the volunteers Veronika and Vlatka and use the opportunity to speak with the citizens of Cakovec and discuss the support system for victims and witnesses and their experience.
On July 11, National Call Center Coordinator Maja Stahan and the Executive Director participated in a partnership meeting organized as part of the HELPLINE project implemented by the B.a.B.e.- Be Active Be emancipated -in partnership with the Victims and Witnesses Support Association Croatia, the Judicial Academy, the Police Academy, the Office for Gender Equality and partners from Slovakia. The meeting briefly outlined the activities that have been completed and their results, including a website aimed at victims of gender-based violence – stop-nasilju.com. Activities that follow in the coming months are presented, such as designing an educational module on gender-based violence aimed at NPC volunteers.
On July 16, 2013, a National Call Center for victims of crimes was established. The program calibrates 6 years of existence. To date, over 8,100 calls have been received on the 116 006 line, indicating that there is a need for this type of support and that the existence of a line is essential for the support system, especially for victims of domestic violence who most often contact the line and ask for help.
On July 2, the Initial Meeting was held in Split as part of the project “School for Life” Supporting Social Inclusion and Employment of marginalized UP groups, financed by the European Social Fund. We attended the meeting as partners, the Bijeli krug from Split is the project coordinator, and the other partners are the Split Social Welfare Center, the Omis Social Welfare Center. Melita Bosnjak, out head of the office in Vukovar, attended the meeting in front of the VWSSC.
At the end of July, we organized meetings with representatives of the Center for Social Welfare – Novi Marof and Novi Marof Police Station, where on the same day we set up info desks with promotional and informational materials, and presented a Network of Support and Cooperation for Victims and Witnesses of Crime. We discussed the challenges we face, the victims of domestic violence, their frequent problems and the modalities of how the Center / Police operates and how we can aid each other with the benefit of our beneficiaries.
From 01 August 2019 to 31 July 2020, the Victims and Witnesses Support Croatia implements the project “Legal and Psychosocial Assistance and Support for the Homeless in the Vukovar-Srijem County and Osijek-Baranja County” funded by the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and social policy of the Republic of Croatia. The project addresses the establishment of assistance and support for the homeless who are not covered by shelter or shelter accommodation through the provision of primary legal aid and psychosocial support, as well as public advocacy activities in the local community and nationally to raise awareness of the rights of homeless persons. The project will be implemented in the area of Vukovar-Srijem County and Osijek-Baranja County in partnership with the Red Cross City of Osijek and the Center for Social Welfare City of Vukovar.
