As part of the project "REACH OUT – Developing adequate support for LBTIQ women and non-binary gender-based violence survivors" , a one-day education was held in Rijeka on the 12th of June 2025 for professionals offering psychosocial support with emphasis on providing support to victims of gender-based violence.
The education gathered twenty professionals from Rijeka and Istria County and involved topics connected to gender-based violence and providing support to LBTIQ women and non-binary victims of this type of violence.
The first part of the education covered topics of homophobia, internalised homophobia, minority stress and the coming out process with expert Jasminka Juretić, as well as the particularities of counselling trans persons with expert Iva Žegura. The second part of the education was focused on sharing experiences and connecting with organisation Labris from Belgrade which shared its experiences regarding prevention and resolving violence in LBTQ women same-sex relationships. Professionals also had the chance to participate in an experiential workshop lead by SOS Rijeka in which they could explore their own limitations in approaching the theme of violence in same-sex relationships, which also opened a space for conversations and sharing specific advice as a form of support in future work.
This education ensured a space for connecting and networking between professionals and organisations that work with women and/or LBTIQ women and that want to actively work on developing their services so they would be inclusive towards lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer women.
After the education, professionals shared how they will use the acquired knowledge as well as their thoughts about the education. Here are some of them:
It will help in sensitizing in working with partner violence, especially in same-sex relationships. A lot of new questions popped up!
To become aware of one’s own limitations and lack of understanding of the topic. To start off from the perspective of not knowing. To ask and not to imply.
The particularities of working with trans people will be useful for me for individual counselling work with clients I currently work with. The experiential workshop opened up many new questions and topics to think about.
The education was great, thank you. I need a lot more, I have a lot of questions in my head.
Educations and examples of practice should definitely be held and presented more often.
Great education. I learned and became aware of a lot. Thank you!
Stay brave and keep going!
You're great, keep it going! 🙂
Alongside this education, organisations LORI and SOS Rijeka have been working on gathering data and experiences of organisations in Croatia that offer support to victims of violence on working with LBTIQ women and non-binary persons for the past six months. The research was conducted in two phases, using an online survey and three individual conversations with three organisation that have more than 15 years of work experience. The research will be available in July 2025 on the official websites of our organisations. #staytuned.
This project is funded by the EuroCentralAsianLesbian* Community and the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the organisations implementing the project, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EuroCentralAsianLesbian* Community, nor of the European Union. The project is implemented by Lesbian Organisation Rijeka – LORI and SOS Rijeka – Centre for Nonviolence and Human Rights.
