Much research shows that women from refugee or migrant communities are less likely to advocate for themselves or assert their human rights and other legal protections, despite experiencing serious human rights violations in Austria, in their home countries, or en route to Austria. They do not fully understand the legal system or how to access support, which leads to stress, fear, and isolation. It also results in many refugee and migrant women and their communities being subjected to human rights violations.
Elene Gagnidze, a master’s student of the Human Rights program at the University of Applied Arts, organized a workshop with the support of the International Institute for Peace that was meant to inform migrant women from Georgia who reside in Austria about their rights and opportunities in the country.
During the workshop, information was provided on several free resources, including language courses, legal support, mental health services, and more, which will help Georgian women address future challenges and access more opportunities.
The workshop’s main purpose was to contribute to the application of Directive 2012/29/EU, which aims to improve support systems for victims of hate crimes, promote victims’ rights, and combat underreporting. Hate crimes and related incidents are major challenges across Europe and are both widespread and deeply impactful on victims and broader communities. Moreover, perpetrators whose acts are racially motivated are to be punished more severely than those without racist motives. The police must clarify if a reported incident constitutes a hate crime and record this in reports. The event also discussed why it is essential to guarantee that a racist motive is considered during eventual proceedings before the court or, in the case of insults, the police and the public. Thus, the workshop covered all the aforementioned issues, and participants both shared their experiences and learned how to access additional supports.
According to feedback from the participants, the event helped raise awareness and improve conditions for human rights outcomes for women planning to move to Austria. The majority of the participants found the topics of the workshop as well as the presentation and discussion to be both interesting and essential. A flyer including all necessary electronic links was distributed during the event and uploaded on several social media platforms by existing Georgian communities in Austria.
In addition, the workshop provided participants with a safe space to establish their human rights community for future collaboration, exchange information on how to access rights, and learn about the legal system and how to access support in Austria, especially for victims of hate crime, which allowed participants to make the first steps towards being free and independent from abusers.