Community of Practice – Combating violence against women
“Community of Practice is a group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. The Concept of a Community of Practice refers to the process of social learning that occurs when people who have a common interest in some subject of problem collaborate over an extende
d period to share ideas, find solutions and build innovations. Wenger, 1988
This Community of practice (CoP) is founded by non-governmental organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosova and the Middle East with support of the German NGO Amica e. V and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. All founding members started with work for women in crisis after war or political crisis situation. During their work all of them were confronted with everyday life violence against women. Therefore the NGO stated to exchange experiences on regional level. During international exchanges it became very visible that some experiences and problems are very international. Therefore not only regional exchanges shall be supported by the CoP but also international exchanges. The idea of an international regular exchange of NGOs about violence against women with focus on Domestic Violence was born and implemented in spring 2012 after a networking meeting in Prizren, Kosova. The objectives of the Community of Practice – Combating violence against woman are:
• Supporting experts with information about legal frameworks
• Creation of a network of specialists and practitioners in the field of violence against woman, especially in the field of domestic violence
• Establishing a regular exchange between practitioners and experts in the field of violence against woman, especially in South Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
• Establishing an exchange about good practice and ideas in combating violence against woman. Let’s share ideas, find solutions and build innovations for a world where women will not have fear of others at the street, in the field or at home!
