On Monday 31/10/2022, with the participation of the High School Classes of Nikoforos, the second of the educational seminars of the “Time to Talk” project team, which will be held in the Municipality of Drama, was completed. These seminars aim at promoting gender equality and combating gender-based violence.
The seminar was held with the courtesy of the multi-purpose hall of the Municipality of Paranesti in Nikiforos. The project team, along with Ms. Sevasti Chatzifotiou (Associate Professor of Social Work in the Department of Social Work of Democritus University of Thrace), discussed with the 23 students, boys and girls, of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Grade of Senior High School about gender equality and stereotypical perceptions that are perpetuated to this day regarding the social roles of the two genders.

Some of the questions that emerged from the discussion were the following:
- If at the beginning of a relationship between two people there is violence, does this mean that this violence will continue throughout the relationship or is there a chance that it was an isolated incident and it stopped?
- When we see that a friend of ours is in an abusive relationship, but keeps justifying his actions, what can we as third parties do?
- How is feminicide different from other crimes that have female victims (e.g. a car accident)? Is it a feminicide every time a woman is killed and why is this term important?
Upon completion of the contribution of Ms. Chatzifotiou, the students had the chance to play the online game “Change the plot. Be a gender hero!”, and we discussed in small groups our concerns and good practices. The training ended with a strong message against gender-based violence and discrimination.

“Time to Talk” aims at promoting gender equality and safeguarding human rights. In particular, the staff of Drama Ladies Union-House of Open Hospitality and the Mental Health Sciences of the social services of the Prefecture of Drama took part in two trainings organized by the Norwegian organization “Alternative to violence” on managing people who have experienced any kind of violence, but also those who have exercised violence. Furthermore, a university research was carried out on the emerging forms of online gender-based violence in the University of West Attica, University of Peloponnese and Democritus University of Thrace.
“Time to Talk” is implemented in the context of the Active citizens fund program, with Drama Ladies Union-House of Open Hospitality as implementation body. The €13.5 million Active Citizens Fund program is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway and is part of the European Economic Area (EEA) financial mechanism for the period 2014 – 2021, known as EEA Grants. The program aims at fortifying and strengthening the sustainability of civil society and at highlighting its role in promoting democratic processes, strengthening citizens’ participation in society and defending human rights. The management of the grant of the Active Citizens Fund program for Greece has been jointly undertaken by the Bodossaki Foundation and SolidarityNow. For more information: www.activecitizensfund.gr
PRESS OFFICE OF THE DRAMA LADIES UNION-HOUSE OF OPEN HOSPITALITY