According to a study by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) from 2014, 1 in 3 European women is confronted with gender-related violence and more than 1 in 5 European women is confronted with domestic violence. A situation which has clearly worsened following the Covid-19 crisis. Highlighting the role of the company in taking care of women confronted with such violence, PLS committed itself in 2017 to the CEASE project aiming at the creation of a European network of companies committed against domestic violence.

Today, PLS continues the work it has started and notes the lack of collaboration between the different actors involved in the socioprofessional (re)integration of women confronted with domestic violence who have to overcome a certain number of obstacles in their return to work. In order to offer effective help and support, support and guidance structures and companies must work hand in hand.

What are the objectives?

Publication of a guide highlighting the main steps of a successful return to work :

• Putting definitions, European and national contexts and legal frameworks (Belgium, France, Romania, Spain) into perspective ;
• Identification of the limits, but also of positive initiatives which can help the socio-professional (re)integration of women confronted with domestic violence ;
• Proposal of a framework of common indicators facilitating mutual understanding between the actors involved in the return-to-work process.

Creation of a learning toolbox for the structures involved in the return to work process for women who are confronted with domestic violence :

• Organisation of 4 hackathons and collaborative development of the learning tools;
• Direct involvement of women in order to strengthen their self-confidence and to ensure that the tools developed meet their needs.

Publication of a white paper aimed at policy makers, corporate actors and all organisations working on the subject with concrete recommendations to improve support for women in their return-to-work journey.

Raising awareness of the challenges of the socio-professional reintegration of women confronted with domestic violence via :

• A vast communication and dissemination campaign, including the creation of a website and free access to the project tools ;
• Dissemination events at national and European levels;
• The strengthening of existing networks and the development of new synergies.

By whom?

European collaboration allows for the cross-fertilisation of experiences, filling gaps, and learning from what is being done in North, South and Eastern Europe. The ACTIV partnership is thus based on the complementary knowledge and expertise of different actors in the field :

• POUR LA SOLIDARITÉ-PLS (Belgium)
• La Mission locale de Bruxelles Ville (Belgium)
• La Fondation FACE (France)
• Asociatia Touched Romania (Romania) 
• CEPS Projectes Socials (Spain) 

This project is co-financed by the European programme Erasmus+.