European program to fight gender based violence in nightlife and leisure venues
THE PROJECT
CRISSCROSS is an European project that aims to fight gender based violence, particularly in leisure and socialization venues frequented by teens and young adults, through the realization of initiatives to increase the awareness, change the attitude and prevent gender based violence and LGBTI+ phobic based violent behaviour, linked to sexual violence and to the use of substances.
In addition, it aims to increase the skills of professionals that work with teens and young adults on the preventions of violence.
CRISSCROSS MANIFESTO – Where we stand
CRISSCROSS stands for…
⁕ Addressing violence towards young women and LGBTI+ people from a structural and gendered power relations approach.
⁕ An LGBTI+ inclusion perspective, especially focused on lesbian, bisexual women, trans*, and non-binary inclusion, recognition and visibility.
⁕ Promoting young LGBTI+ people and women’s safety by community involvement and challenging social beliefs and expectations around hegemonic masculinity.
⁕ Addressing sexualities focusing on pleasure, health, and actively chosen intimacy.
⁕ A harm reduction and feminist perspective that addresses drug use, recognising the individual autonomy to make their own decisions about whether to use a drug or not, and understanding that drug use may serve as a coping strategy in situations of violence or as a form of sexual liberation.
CRISSCROSS stands against…
⁕ Considering substance use as an explanation, reason, or justification for the perpetration of violence.
⁕ Racism and neocolonialism, as well as binarism and transphobia.
ACTIVITIES
Research
Participative research based on European best practices and need analysis, including the following activities:
- Need analysis to identify social norms and beliefs about GBV among teens and young adults.
- Compilation of Best practices in Europe deploying GBV and LGBTI+ prevention intervention in leisure and socialization spaces.
- Development of a Training Intervention Program (TPI) and a Toolkit to increase the capacity of professionals working with young people in the prevention of GBV.
Pilot initiative
Design, test, implementation and evaluation of local pilot initiatives in Barcelona, Dublin, Milan, Lisbon and Luxembourg, focused on affective-sexual education and harm reduction in substance use intervening in leisure spaces. They will be based on the methodology of behavioural change.
Creation of a community of professionals in the field of non-formal education. They will participate in the CRISSCROSS Training Program and European exchanges and field visits.
Communication and Advocacy
CRISSCROSS Communication campaign at local and European level to increase awareness on the topics of the project, on the pilot initiatives and on the main results of the project.
CRISSCROSS Advocacy campaign to involve institutions, public authorities and stakeholders to assure the sustainability and replicability of the pilot initiatives.
RESOURCES to fight GBV
CRISSCROSS RESEARCH REPORT
WHO WE ARE
The CRISSCROSS Partners
ABD, Asociación Bienestar y Desarrollo (Spain) –The Welfare and Development Association (in English) is the coordinator of the CRISSCROSS project. ABD is an NGO, designated a public service by the government aimed at protecting the rights of people, as well as responding to the processes that generate situations of social exclusion.
ABD was born in the 1980s, when a group of professionals and volunteers came together to face the increase of drug use and AIDS.
Today, ABD’s social action is transversal, addressing situations such as physical and cognitive dependency, lack of basic resources, gender-based violence, child abuse, elderly care, migration issues, discrimination based on gender, ethnicity or origin, among others.
ABD will contribute with its expertise in managing, implementing and evaluating harm reduction in interventions in drug prevention projects in nightlife environments and in GBV identification and prevention.
ABD is developing more than 183 national and international programmes, assisting more than 171.822 people annually.
ACRA (Italy) is an NGO committed for over 50 years to international cooperation, to the protection of human rights, and to fight poverty and inequality.
ACRA operates with local communities in Africa and Latin America and promotes projects in Italy and Europe fighting gender based violence and combating climate change through Global citizenship education, and a culture of dialogue and integration, cross-cultural exchange and solidarity.
For more than 30 years ACRA organizes global citizenship education activities for schools and youth.
ACRA is in charge of communication and advocacy and through its experience will contribute to the implementation of the CRISSCROSS project’s transnational research.
CoopLotta | Cooperativa Lotta contro l’emarginazione (Italy), since 1980 has been designing and managing innovative social interventions and reception and care services aimed at people at risk of social exclusion, especially focusing on adolescents and young people and women victims of GBV.
It intervenes with community projects, interventions in schools, street workers on objectives of prevention of youngsters’ distress and on the reduction of harm in nightlife events.
They will lead responsible for the design and the test of local pilots due to their intervention experience and expertise, they will implement CRISSCROSS pilot in Milan and will contribute throughout the entire project with its experience in designing, implementing and assessing social intervention projects.
Universidad de Sevilla, IASED LAB (Interpersonal Aggression and Socio-Emotional Development), is the research group from the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology from Seville University (Spain).
IASED LAB has a long history of research on coexistence and violence among adolescents.
They will contribute with its expertise in designing, developing and evaluating universal prevention programs to reduce dating violence, sexual harassment, bullying and cyberbullying, being one of the most recognized research groups on this topic in Spain.
They will be responsible for the Impact Evaluation and will also contribute in participative research tasks with their experience in developing Psychoeducational intervention models with the aim to apply behavioural science to reduce GBV behaviours.
HSE Health Service Executive (Ireland), is a statutory body with strong links throughout the statutory and community sectors that provides public health and social care services to everyone living in Ireland.
Through the Nightlife Task Force, they will implement CRISSCROSS pilot in Dublin and will contribute throughout the entire project with its experience and expertise in designing, implementing and assessing social intervention projects and public policies at a national level.
4Motion | Education for Social Change,(Luxembourg) is a non-profit association specialised in the field of non-formal education using peer-based approaches. Its aim is to stimulate social change by promoting a living together based on an inclusive and benevolent approach. They will contribute with its expertise running the PIPAPO project in Luxembourg. Through the promotion of a festive culture, 4motion encourages participation, sharing, and exchange, placing well-being at the heart of its approach to create an environment conducive to personal and social fulfilment. They will implement CRISSCROSS pilot in Luxembourg and will contribute throughout the entire project with its experience in designing, implementing and assessing social intervention projects at a national level.
Kosmicare (Portugal) is an NGO that was born of a will to inspire change in drug policies and promote the empowerment of people that use drugs, as well as their families and communities. Kosmicare is responsible for the participative research based on EU best practices and needs analysis, due to its research experience and expertise. It will implement CRISSCROSS pilot in Lisbon and will contribute throughout the entire project with its experience in designing, implementing and assessing social intervention projects.
Project Advisory Board
Ana Burgos García
Fundació Salut i Comunitat | Observatori Noctàmbul@s & Malva (SPAIN)
Elisa Virgili
Università degli Studi di Bergamo (ITALY)
Áine Travers
University College Dublin (IRELAND)
Viviane Lima
CESAS - Centre national de référence pour la promotion de la santé affective et sexuelle (LUXEMBOURG)
Miguel Martinho
Ravers Care Corner | Kosmicare (PORTUGAL)
“CRISSCROSS – Intervention program in nightlife, leisure and socialization venues to raise awareness and prevent GBV behaviours – including LGBTIphobia – linked to sexual violence and substance use” is funded by the European Union, Programme: Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) – Daphne. Call: 2022
