Cohesion policy projects supporting women who are victims of violence

25/11/2018

For the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which the United Nations General Assembly has set for 25 November, OpenCoesione is presenting a brief analysis of the projects financed with the help of cohesion policy funds that have the goal of supporting victims of violence against women.

A total of 104 relevant projects[1], including 66 financed using funds from the 2007-2013 programming cycle and 33 from the 2014-2020 programming cycle, have been identified, for a total public cost of €26.5 million.

Although the number of projects related to the 2014-2020 programming cycle is lower, due in part to the early stages of populating the unified database (the source of the data published on OpenCoesione), these projects represent a greater financial outlay compared to the previous programming cycle. 

It is likely that the greater investment for the 2014-2020 cycle aimed at supporting women who have been victims of violence is associated with a greater commitment of 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds) towards the issue of social inclusion together with the ERDF. The ESF, on the other hand, has a long tradition of sensitivity towards this issue.

Based on an analysis of 2014-2020 programming cycle data, the greatest public investment and highest number of projects are associated with the NOP Lawfulness – Multi-fund (ERDF, ESF) Programme – which is financing projects, through the ERDF, for the recovery and redevelopment of real estate to be used for centers for abused women. These are followed, in terms of public cost, by the NOP Metropolitan Cities, with projects financed by the ESF and aimed at providing support and orientation services for women at risk or in other difficult situations and, at the moment, just one infrastructure (ERDF) project.

In terms of the programming of regional ESI Funds, the ESF ROP for Emilia Romagna (in terms of public cost) and the ESF ROP for Lazio (in terms of number of projects) stand out for the actions and services planned to help abused women, such as projects to help them find employment and various awareness initiatives.

Although nearly all the projects on gender violence for the 2007-2013 programming cycle, too, have been financed within the scope of European programmes (structural funds)—such as the redevelopment of a property in Palermo to be used for the first emergency medical center for pregnant women in difficulty and the creation of an anti-violence center in the province of Trapani financed within the scope of the Cohesion Action Plan—the investments have been financed solely with Regional Operational Programme (ROP) funds. First and foremost, there is the region of Puglia with two ROPs, one ERDF and one ESF, followed by Sicily’s ERDF ROP. In terms of number and distribution, there is a greater incidence of 2007-2013 projects financed by ESF programmes with actions aimed at creating networks to support women, actions to help victims of violence find employment, and various awareness efforts.

On the whole, the use of cohesion funds for dedicated infrastructures, i.e. for the recovery of spaces to be used for anti-violence information desks, shelters, and other spaces to assist women who are victims of violence with services of inclusion, education and training, and other forms of support, is significant.

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[1] Projects were selected by searching on the following keywords: women victims, woman victim, violence women, gender violence, trafficking, anti-violence.