Feminist EmPOWERment Grant:
Psychological assistance for refugees from Ukraine who had experienced violence.

“We want to help. We are here for you. We understand you. We are on your side.”

About the Organization

The main area of Feminoteka’s activities is to support women experiencing violence, especially sexual violence. The organization operates a helpline for women in such a situation, offering legal and psychological, therapeutic, psychotraumatological or other support adapted to the needs of the victim.
Grantees also work to eliminate gender discrimination in all spheres of social, public, and cultural life. The organization runs workshops, trainings, meetings, writes petitions, initiates protest actions, as well as runs a bookstore and the cosmetics brand “Samo Dobro”, the income from which is used to support women experiencing violence.

“As predicted, more and more instances of violence are reported to the Ukrainian language on the hotline. The more stable the situation of refugees becomes, the more space they have to take care of their well-being.”

About the action

Since the outbreak of the war, Feminoteka has been involved in supporting women from Ukraine. The first activities are the preparation of an information leaflet in Ukrainian concerning the prevention of violence against refugees (in cooperation with the Ukrainian House), an initial appeal to the Ministry of Interior and Administration and local governments regarding the regulation of individual aid and reducing the risk of violence and human trafficking.
The next steps are to launch a hotline in Ukrainian for women experiencing violence. Women from Ukraine have been provided the support which has been addressed to women living in Poland for years. Feminoteka hired a specialist (psychologist, psychotraumatologist) from the refugee community, as well as translators and social assistants. It has adapted the existing support tools and their translation into other languages, yoga classes for persons after a traumatic experience, and emergency financial assistance. It launched social media and communication channels in Ukrainian. It is also preparing safe places of residence for women from Ukraine who have experienced violence, supports them materially and financially. Work is underway to launch a cosmetics studio where refugees will be employed.
At the same time, Feminoteka wants to support activists working for persons fleeing the war in Ukraine, being aware of the processes leading to activist burnout or empathy fatigue.

Grant amount: PLN 80,000
Photo Foundation Feminoteka /own material