The project Safe at Home started on the 1st of January 2017. The project is led by the Dutch organization Kadera and implemented in partnership with FEANTSA (EU/BE), Peabody (UK) and Standing Together against Domestic Violence (UK). The partnership aims to strengthen the vital role that housing providers can play in responding to domestic violence. The project is funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme of the European Union.
Contact person: Ruth Kasper
FINAL PROJECT CONFERENCE on 22 November 2018 in The Hague, Netherlands
At the final conference, the results of the project will be shared and various speakers will contribute to the discussion about the role of housing corporations in tackling domestic violence. The guide for Dutch housing corporations will also be presented to Minister Hugo de Jonge of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.
The conference particularly addresses managers and employees of housing associations, policy officers in the field of domestic violence, those involved and for those who want to know more about how we can beat violence behind the front door together.
The conference will kick off with a plenary, the afternoon will be interactive. Contributions will be made by the following speakers:
- Minister Hugo de Jonge, Dutch Minister for Public health, Welfare and Sport
- Kirsten van den Hul - Member of Parliament, Netherlands (PvdA)
- Hanneke Nagtzaam - Aedes, association of housing corporations in the Netherlands
- Gudrun Burnet - Group Lead on Domestic Abuse at Peabody Housing Provider, London
- Nicole Jacobs - CEO Standing Together Against Domestic Violence, London
- Kelly Henderson - Corporate manager of Domestic Violence at Gentoo Housing (UK)
- Ruth Kasper - FEANTSA, Project officer on women's homelessness
- Chairwomen of the day will be Yvonne Matser - van ’t Oever, project leader of the Safe at Home project, Kadera (NL)
Registration - project coordinator Kadera
Please not that the event will mostly take place in Dutch language.
For any questions and registration, please feel free to also contact project officer Ruth Kasper, FEANTSA.
Safe at Home roundtable with European policy makers and stakeholders, 21 November 2018 in the European Parliament, Brussels
To present and discuss the Safe at Home policy recommendations to relevant stakeholders, FEANTSA organized a European workshop. The workshop was very successful in reaching out to the most relevant target groups - MEPs, representatives of the European Commission and the housing provider sector as well as representatives of DV and women's organizations, especially network organizations who are active at European level.
The workshop actively involved panellists from the European Commission - Mrs Pambianco attended the event on behalf of the Gender Equality Unit, DG JUST, representatives of Housing Europe, the European Network of Social and Public housing providers, and from two very relevant women organizations- WAVE, Women Against Violence Europe, and the European Women's Lobby, attended too. The event was hosted by MEP Mary Honeyball (S&D UK).
The policy recommendations and recommendations to housing providers on how to improve support to survivors of domestic violence were presented. Panellists were given the opportunity to comment on the recommendations and engage in a joint discussion. The detailed agenda of the workshop and list of panellists are available on the event website. The final version of the policy recommendations is available in the 'Download Section' on the right.
Housing Europe, who was represented by Muriel Boulmier, CEO of its member Ciliopée (Housing Provider, FR) published an article on the event which is accessible here.
Want to know more? Watch this introductory video:
Safe at Home project at International Symposium on VAW in Brussels
On the 20th of February 2018 Yvonne Matser and Ruth Kasper will speak on an International Symposium on Violence Against Women and Girls on behalf of the Safe at Home project. The Symposium is organized in order to share ideas and strategies on ending domestic violence at European level. The Safe at Home project is characterized by involving Housing Providers as a new actor to end domestic violence.
Domestic violence and abuse, in most cases, take place behind closed doors, a space to which few people have access. However, housing providers do have access to these hidden spaces and should be included in efforts to identify domestic violence, besides usual actors such as care and welfare services. Involving housing providers in identifying signs of domestic violence is the innovation of the Safe at Home project. Social housing is organized in different ways in European countries. However, the knowledge and experiences with the Safe at Home approach can serve as inspirational example on how to engage a new sector in tackling domestic violence. Furthermore, the Safe at Home project contributes to raising awareness of the important relationship between housing and domestic violence.
The International Symposium is officially named: ‘Tackling Gender-Based Violence in Europe: Advancing Strategies to End Violence against Women and Girls’. Yvonne Matser (project leader) and Ruth Kasper (project officer) are invited to speek. The Symposium is organized by Public Policy Exchange.
NON.NO.NEIN. campaign
Safe at Home is part of the NON.NO.NEIN. campaign initiated by the European Commission. Violence against women is endemic in the European Union. Not only is VAW causing severe harm to women, families and communities, it is a brutal form of discrimination and a violation of women’s fundamental rights. The European Commission therefore appointed the year of 2017 to focus actions to end violence against women and girls.
"The NON.NO.NEIN. campaign aims to share information and showcase success stories about the important work that is being done in this field across the EU. More than an awareness-raising campaign, this initiative will support, engage and connect all stakeholders in combatting this problem." Say No! Stop Violence Against Women!
#SayNoStopVAW
Housing providers training kicks off: the 25 participating housing providers
Part of the Safe at Home project is to train employees of 25 housing providers in the UK and in the Netherlands about the vital role they can play in response to domestic violence.
The training courses are intended for employees who have daily contact with tenants. For example, maintenance staff, housing officers, district managers and employees of the income team. In this news release we have listed the 25 British and Dutch housing providers involved in this 2-year project
List of participating housing providers:
The Netherlands
2. De Veste
3. DeltaWONEN
4. Domijn
5. Elkien
6. Lefier
8. Welbions
9. Woningbouwstichting De Gemeenschap
10. WOONopMAAT
11. Woonpunt
12. Woningstichting Het Grootslag
15. WST Nieuwkoop*
*WST Nieuwkoop is a very small housing provider. they have bundled their forces and asked other (small) housing corporations to participate in the project. These are: Ressort Wonen (Rozenburg), Habeko Wonen (Hazerswoude-dorp), Woningbouwvereniging Reeuwijk and WBV Beter Wonen Goedreede.
The UK
1. CentrePoint
2. County Durham Housing Group
3. Hexagon
4. Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO)
6. Octavia
7. Sovereign Housing Association
9. Tai Tarian (formerly known as NPT Homes)
Criteria for participation
By selecting the participating housing providers, we looked at the number of rental units (i.e. the size of the housing providers) and the location of the housing providers with the aim of creating the most realistic reflection of housing providers in the UK and the Netherlands.
How it is going?
The training has started in both countries.
