(Sexualized) violence is one of the greatest health risks for women. Mainz does offer good medical and psychosocial care for those affected.
However, since the number of refugees has also increased in Mainz, medical professionals and women's and victim protection counselors are facing new challenges that go far beyond overcoming language barriers.

The Health Working Group of the Working Group on Violence against Women and Children therefore invited Sibylle Rothkegel from the INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY BERLIN to speak at the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in November 2016. The
speaker is a certified psychologist and psychotherapist
as well as co-founder of the Office for Psychosocial Processes (OPSI).
Her presentation focused on the special considerations involved in providing health care to refugee women and girls who have experienced (sexualized) violence. Experts from Mainz
participated in the subsequent discussion, sharing insights from their work with refugee women and girls.

The right to protection from (sexual) violence also applies to refugee women and children. However, laws and regulations alone do not provide (sufficient) protection for women and children. The state capital of Mainz shares this view and therefore presented a working paper on the protection of refugee women and children at the end of 2016, which was agreed upon by the Department of Social Affairs, Children, Youth, Schools, and Health and the Women's Office. In order to effectively protect refugee women here, to help them process their experiences of violence, and to show them ways out of acute situations of violence, the paper sets out the task of developing a more comprehensive violence protection concept in collaboration with operators of shared accommodation facilities and women's support organizations.

In 2017, representatives of the General Social Services, the Women's Office, the Mainz Women's Emergency Hotline, the Intervention Center, Juvente Refugee Support, the pro familia center Mainz, and SOLWODI worked to develop a binding framework for shared accommodation facilities. This framework also describes procedures that enable full-time and volunteer staff to respond appropriately to violence against women and children and to provide those affected with information and access to help and support services.

After six working meetings, the concept was finalized and made available to the social welfare department at the end of the year. Following internal administrative coordination, it was noted by the Committee on Women's Issues in June and the Social Welfare Committee in August.

The initial information for full-time and volunteer workers on protecting refugee women and children from violence has been reprinted three times. Now, the Working Group on Violence against Women and Children in Mainz and Mainz-Bingen has replaced the practical fold-out card with a clear leaflet. This is because practical experience of working with refugees shows how important healthcare for refugee women and girls is, alongside protection from violence. In a different format and with a new focus, the new publication, entitled (Sexualized) Violence and Health, now addresses what and who helps refugee women and children in Mainz. It is available for download below, and printed copies can be picked up at the Women's Office.
Contact:
Women's Office of the State Capital Mainz
City Hall
Jockel Fuchs Platz 1
55116 Mainz
Phone: 06131 12 21 75
Email: frauenbuero:@stadt.mainz.de