Empower and educate girls free of sexual violence

Testimonies of mothers, fathers and caregivers of girls, boys and adolescents victims of sexual violence.

“Attending the support group was a rewarding experience for me. At the beginning I felt ashamed to face what happened in my family in front of other people, while the workshop was going on I calmed down my mind and heart, in the end I felt that there are people who went through similar times and got ahead, that it is not easy and they are succeeding . It inspired me to continue my own processes and that of my family, to seek the reconstruction of our lives. To understand that what I am doing is right, that I start doing justifiable for myself and my family.”

"For me, attending the support group was very enriching. I had the opportunity to learn about common problems and share mine, which allowed me to understand how much progress I had made in my process, for which I am deeply grateful to Fundación Idea Dignidad. To get here I went through two psychologists. Meeting such professional people in this Foundation has allowed me to free myself from the stereotypes to which I lived tied for more than three decades, contradicting my feminist principles. Today I am a very happy person, authentic and consistent with my principles, I feel that I have freed myself from a heavy burden that did not let me walk. Thank you very much for your professionalism and dedication and above all for your commitment to women who have suffered violence.".

The support group for mothers, fathers and caregivers of children and adolescents who are victims of sexual violence was created so that mothers, fathers and caregivers of children and adolescents who have been victims of sexual violence can have a collective space for listening and containment to strengthen tools and recover emotional well-being.

A total of 21 people attended the process and it consisted of 4 sessions:

• First session: A psychosocial diagnosis was made to identify the topics of interest to the group of mothers, fathers and caregivers. The importance of working on guilt and justice was identified.

• Second session “Guilt”: The objective was to address the guilt that falls on mothers, fathers and caregivers, due to social mandates when it is considered that "they did not take good care of their sons and daughters". Rape culture worked.

• Third session “Justice”: The objective was to identify the various forms of justice not limited to the legal in order to recognize themselves as active agents of justice.

• Fourth session “Self-care”: The objective was to address the importance of care for caregivers and learn self-care tools. This session was open to the general public.

Many of the mothers and fathers who come to Idea have high levels of conflict with their adolescent sons and daughters or commit violence against them. For this reason, they need knowledge and practical tools to carry out a more respectful upbringing without giving up discipline but making it positive and guaranteeing the rights of children and adolescents.

Respectful upbringing meets the needs of girls and boys in the evolutionary phases of their lives, which helps to reinforce their well-being and happiness in their growth, also being more satisfying, partly due to good self-esteem that shows love unconditional strengthen in the minor.

For mothers and fathers, it allows a more complete accompaniment of the little ones in their development, which allows them to understand many attitudes of the children, also enhancing the emotional intelligence of the parents, who act and make decisions in accordance with this educational philosophy.

We promote these practices in two ways: in the face-to-face workshops that we carry out monthly and through information on our social networks. We leave you a small sample of our work.

Links:

• Workshop with parents of NNA who experienced sexual violence