With Education Against Violence Toward Girls

Hello, again!

Center for Girls had a bussy end of the 2023 and entered new year with the results to be proud of. We are, thus, sharing our achievements with you.

We managed to organize several well visited events, including the promotion of the book „Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters And How to Get It" by Laurie Mintz, conversation with V and Rada B. About activism, starting movements and and V’s book „The Apology“, as well as a tree planting with her and Rada B., We also held the meeting of the Regional Network SOUTH and performed a Women’s Cemetery street performance, with the goal of raising awareness on the problem of femicide. Our project „SAFE“, that deals with the safety of women and girls in public spaces in Nis, was successfully implemented, so we held a press conference about the project’s results. The new chapter of Center for Girls’ work, regarding Chidlren’s Daycare Center for children who work/beg on the street and are at risk of human trafficking, started strong, so by the end of the year we aready had kids who regularly come to Center. Prior to the New Year’s Eve, kids who came got presents.

Center for Girls starts new year strong, full of enthusiasm and ready for new challanges. Here you can find a bit more information about each of the mentioned actitivies, that were conducted in the previous period:

„Becoming cliterate“ in Niš

In the full hall of Labeerint, in front of more than 30 people, the promotion of the book "Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters And How to Get It" by Laurie Mintz, was held.

The book was fantastically translated by Ana Imširovic orevic, and published by Reconstruction Women's Fund. Tatjana N. and Marija V. from the Center for Girls spoke with Galina M. and Nataša I. They talked about the clitoris, female orgasm, masturbation, genital mutilation.

The meeting of the Regional Network SOUTH held

The meeting of the Regional Network SOUTH, held in Niš, was attended by members of the 4 organizations that make up the network – the Center for Girls from Niš, Women for Peace from Leskovac, SOS Vlasotince and the Independent Women's Center from Dimitrovgrad.

Narratives and financial reports for the previous project year were adopted and the planning of upcoming joint activities included in the Women Against Violence network project for 2024 was done. The meeting went great, in excellent working atmosphere.

V in Niš once again

V (previously Eve E., American writer, activist and initiator of the global campaign One Billion Rising) visited Center for Girls.

She and Rada B. (activist, member of parliament, president of the Commission for Gender Equality of the City of Zagreb and representative of the campaign for Croatia) visited the premises of the Center for Girls and the Day Center for Children. Together with Tatjana N. (founder and executive coordinator of the Center for Girls in Niš and representative of the campaign One billion Rising for Serbia), activists of the Center for Girls and the present citizens, they planted three Japanese cherry trees in Cair Park. By doing so, they drew attention to the problems of violence against women and femicide. The trees were planted in memory of all murdered girls and women in Serbia and the world, and they represent new life and hope.

In the evening, there was a conversation with V. We talked about how social movements are created and what happens when women unite, and how the One Billion Stands Up movement came about, how art drives change and what art means to V on a personal and activist level . There was also talk about the new novel "The Apology", which visitors could buy.

Women's Cemetery - International Day Against Violence Against Women

Over 1,000 people saw the street action with the performance Women's Cemetery and a banner with the inscription "Stop violence against girls / women!", performed by 25 activists in the center of Nis, on a rainy day, on the occasion of November 25 - the International Day against Violence against Women . With the performance, we also marked the beginning of the campaign "16 days of activism", as well as the campaign "One billion stands up against violence against women".

Activists from the South Regional Network (Girls' Center Nis, SOS Vlasotince and Women for Peace Leskovac) and the Women's Inclusive Center from Kosovo took part in the performance. The executive coordinator of the Center for Girls, Tatjana N., and the president of the board of women for peace from Leskovac, Ljiljana Nešic, gave statements to RTS.

Every 10 days, 1 woman in Serbia is killed in domestic and partner violence, and in the world 1 out of 3 women experience some form of violence in their lifetime.

Femicide is the killing of a woman just because she is a woman. It is associated with discrimination against women, unequal distribution of power between men and women, prejudice and violence against women. In 2023, 27 girls and women were killed by their fathers, brothers, sons, grandsons, husbands, and partners. Since 2010, over 400 girls and women have been killed in Serbia.

SAFE: Media conference held

Center for Girls held a press conference on the occasion of the successful completion of the PROJECT "SAFE: Empowering girls and women to feel safer in public places in Niš".

The Founder and Executive Coordinator of the Center for Girls and trainer of Empowering Self-defense, Tatjana N., spoke about the Empowering Self-defense workshops, meetings with city municipalities and project results. Sara P., Coordinator for work with users of the Center for Girls, spoke about the results of the survey on the safety of girls and women in public places in Nis, the interactive map and recommendations for increasing safety. Publications about the project were distributed to those present.

Open door at Children's Daycare Center

The Children’s Daycare Center has opened its doors to all those who are interested in our work. This was an opportunity for them to bring clothes and shoes, toys, learning materials and creative work.

P.S. In the previous 4 months (September 2023 - December 2023), i.e. from the beginning of the Day Center to the end of 2023, the Day Center for Children was visited by 35 children, and 723 services were provided:

280 served lunch

17 baths

22 changes of clothes

250 creative activities

122 learning

32 assists on the field

Waiting for the New Year - Distribution of packets in the Children’s Daycare Center

Towards the end of 2023, New Year's packages were distributed in the Children’s Daycare Center. The gathering took place in a festive atmosphere.

Thank you to the student parliament of the Gymnasium in Cacak and the workers of a large company in Niš for the packets they brought.

Stay tuned to see more! See you in a couple of months, with new exciting news to share!

P.S. 

If you want to support us we thank you in advance.

Links:

• Our official website