EBU Daphne Programme 2000 - 2003

During 2003 The European Blind Union are running a project under the European Daphne Programme which aims to combat violence against children, young people and women. (contract number 02/047/WY co financed by the European Commission Justice & Home Affairs Directorate)

Who is the European Blind Union?

EBU aims to protect and promote the interests of blind and partially-sighted people in Europe. It currently has 44 member countries, each represented by a national delegation.

Our objectives are:

To represent all blind people in Europe.
To promote the advancement of the interests of blind people including those with additional handicaps with the goal of achieving their equal rights as citizens and full participation in society.
To provide a European forum for exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of blindness.
To promote the prevention and cure of blindness.
To strive for equal representation and participation of gender and age in its activities and in particular in the selection by national members of delegations to the general assembly, in elections to the Board and committees and in appointments to commissions, committees and working groups.

What is the EBU Daphne Project?

This project aims to:

Collate information on cases of violence faced by blind and partially sighted women through desk research and empirical work with blind people
Raise awareness amongst the public and strategic stakeholders of the violence faced by blind women across the EU.
Provide blind women with information about their rights and help them to learn to defend themselves and avoid violence in the future.

It will raise public awareness of the situation faced by blind and partially sighted women and work with them in peer group settings to explore how they have dealt with violence. It will disseminate examples of good practice where women have managed their situation and ended the violence they faced.

The project is being run at an EU level and targets blind and partially sighted women across all fifteen member states. Activities include:

A review of other work carried out in this field to identify existing good practice (including previous Daphne projects);
Research into the situation of blind women in the fifteen EU member states - through a questionnaire which is available on this site;
Identification of good practice which has emerged and adaptation of this to the specific needs of blind and partially sighted women;
Piloting of the prevention / self help methods identified;
Peer group discussions with blind women in various member states;
EU level seminars at various stages of the project
Press conferences and other events to raise awareness of this issue;

Why run this project?

A survey carried out in 2001 showed that two out of 10 blind or partially sighted women suffer or have suffered from violence at home, at school, on public transport or in the workplace. They reported that they found it difficult to escape this violence because of their disability and couldn't tell anyone about it through fear of reprisals.

It was for this reason that the EBU's Women's Commission decided to launch a campaign against violence against blind women.

We set up a "network" of blind women. This group aims to identify the ways in which sighted women have dealt with violence & adapt these to the specific needs of blind women. It also aims to raise public awareness of this issue It was from this network that this Daphne project was born.

Who is involved / can get involved?

The EBU Women's Commission
The Women's Commission of each of the fifteen EU member states blind organisations which are members of EBU
Women across the EU of all ages, with or without disability

Where will the results go?

The results of the project will be posted on this website and will be disseminated in various formats to:

The public
Public Institutions (social services, schools, universities etc)
Private agencies
NGO's of and for disabled people
Women and family organisations
Self help organisations working in the field of domestic violence

Who else is involved?

The European Blind Union is coordinating and leading this project in association with its fifteen member NGO's and more closely:

Organizacion Nacional de Ciegos de Espana (ONCE - Spanish National Blind Organisation)
Federation des Aveugles & Handicapes Visuels de France (FAF - French Federation of the Blind)
Unione Italiana Ciechi (UIC - Italian Union of the Blind)
FBPS - the Dutch Association of the Blind

Where can I find further information?

Further information is available from Yvonne Toros, the Project Coordinator at ytorosebu@compuserve.com