Also Via SVRI – Sexual Violence Research Initiative
In Her Shoes is an interactive group activity designed to give women and men the opportunity to walk “in the shoes” of women and girls experiencing various forms of violence. It is often an emotional and personal exercise that goes beyond traditional awareness raising to provide a direct experience of the realities that women and girls regularly face—in particular, the stigma and discrimination they commonly encounter when seeking support.
An In Her Shoes session typically lasts three hours, during which time the group moves through a series of ten fictional yet realistic stories, each portraying a woman or girl experiencing a different form of violence including: intimate partner violence, sexual violence (including sexual violence in conflict), violence against vulnerable groups (e.g., sexual minorities, women living with disabilities, sex workers, women living with HIV and AIDs, etc.), economic violence, early marriage, and female genital mutilation.
As each story unfolds, participants are presented with a series of decisions to make, as if they were the woman or girl protagonist in the story (Box 2). The stories are followed by group discussions, in which facilitators help participants critically analyze the experience, including the types of violence highlighted, the paucity of choices and positive support encountered, and how these realities negatively impact the women and girls, as well as the people around them. At the end of this discussion, facilitators guide participants through an exercise for finding emotional closure using techniques such as a guided imagery about safe and happy relationships. Finally each participant explores specific actions she or he can take—personally and professionally—to better support women and girls experiencing violence and to help prevent violence for others. Through this act of walking in the shoes of women and girls the In Her Shoes process aims to do the following:
*To increase the awareness of, and empathy for, the difficulties survivors face when seeking support.
*To demonstrate that all women and girls can experience violence no matter their circumstances.
* To encourage participants to actively think about what they can do in their personal and/or professional lives to better prevent and respond to VAWG.
* To begin a rights-based discussion and analysis of common misperceptions about VAWG.
Direct Link to Full 12-Page 2015 Program Review:
http://raisingvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/LP3.InHerShoes.Redesign.FINAL_.dec2015.pdf
Извор: WUNRN – 25.07.2016
