Women Against Violence Europe (WAVE)

WAVE: WOMEN AGAINST VIOLENCE EUROPE represents an informal feminist European network established in 1994 promoting human rights of women and children. As a legal entity since 2014 (WAVE Association) and as a formal network NGO composed of European women's NGOs WAVE is working in the field of preventing and combating violence against women and children as well as in promoting and strengthen the human rights of the mentioned vulnerable groups.
The WAVE INFORMATION CENTER is affiliate to the WAVE network and provides direct support and information to victims of violence. It is not a counselling centre but rather provides information and referrals to other centres.
# Violence Against Women may be experienced in private or public sphere. The most extreme manifestation of violence against women is captured by the term Femicide.
Femicide refers to the killings of females by men (partners, family members, persons known to the victim) because they are females. Murders are motivated by hatred, contempt, pleasure, or a sense of ownership of women.
Based on the UN Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women (2012) WAVE describes the phenomenon of femicide as a result and in the line with the following acts of violence (Andrada Filip, 2017) :
Direct category of femicide
• “killings of women and girls as a result of domestic violence, inflicted by an intimate or domestic partner;
• misogynist killings of women;
• killings of women and girls in the name of “honour”;
• armed conflict-related killings of women and girls (as a strategy of war, oppression, or ethnic conflict);
• dowry-related killings of women and girls;
• gender identity and sexual orientation-related killings of women (lesbophobic femicides);
• female infanticide and gender-biased sex selection (feticide);
• ethnic and indigenous identity-related killings.”
Indirect category of femicide
• “deaths due to unsafe or clandestine abortions;
• maternal mortality;
• deaths from harmful practices (for example, those resulting from female genital mutilation);
• deaths linked to human trafficking, drug dealing, small-arms proliferation, organised crime,
• and gang-related activities;
• the death of girls or women from neglect, starvation, or ill-treatment; and
• deliberate acts or omissions by public servants or agents of the state.”
The project’s central aim is to empower women by forming an international collective, and make them less vulnerable to the gender-based violence that occurs within European society. They rest on an assumption that many of the instances of violence stem from an ideological or worldview that justifies or enables this violence. To this end, it could be seen to be a form of violent extremism.
It also focusses on, as one element, the human trafficking of women and young girls by organised criminal syndicates in Europe, especially in the Western and Eastern Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe.

The declared main objectives of WAVE are:
• "To work towards elimination of all forms of discrimination, violence, gender-stereotyping against women and their children and to promote the right of women and girls to live free from violence in both the public and the private sphere and to promote the human rights of women and girls
• To advocate for the empowerment of women, for gender equality, democracy, peace, justice and the rule of law in Europe and internationally
• To build capacity of existing independent and feminist women’s organizations and to promote the establishment and increase of independent and feminist women’s organisations (women’s NGOs) as part of civil society, providing specialised support services to women survivors of violence, their children and other survivors of domestic violence, as well as awareness raising, preventive and other related activities."
The long-term goal of the initiative is to prevent, combat and eradicate all forms of violence against women, girls and children by empowering them for gender equality, democracy, peace, justice and the rule of law.

WAVE focusses on
• advocacy,
• awareness raising,
• research,
• dissemination of information and
• the expansion and improvement of specialist, gender-sensitive and human rights based support services for women who have experienced gender-based violence.
WAVE also calls upon governments to allocate appropriate financial and human resources for the adequate implementation of integrated policies, measures and programmes to prevent violence against women and their children.

Since the network focuses on all forms of violent against women and children it gains the potential of transferability to any region and country affected by domestic and public violence. However, WAVE is acting internationally, being a cooperation partner in several projects in the fields of prevention and combating violence. It is one of the major, and most well-known networks, having been established for over 20 years now. The model has the potential of being transferred, but perhaps not on the scale or current effectiveness of what WAVE is now.

Not enough information

• WAVE Network
• National governments
• National and International Organisations (following the same objectives as WAVE)
WAVE is:
• “supporting women’s organizations which advocate for human rights;
• conducting lobbying activities and cooperating with national governments and intergovernmental and international organisations such as the Council of Europe, the European Union, the United Nations, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and their respective entities as well as with other relevant organisations to strengthen efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women and domestic violence;
• cooperating with policymakers, municipalities, police, law enforcement and justice system, health and social sector, human rights organisations, unions, corporate organisations, the media and other relevant entities to improve the protection, empowerment and support for women survivors of violence and their children on national , European and international levels.
• promoting the implementation of international conventions, declarations, recommendations and resolutions such as CEDAW, the Istanbul Convention and other relevant conventions, declarations, recommendations and resolutions, as well as other objectives to prevent violence.”

The funds for WAVE are collected through:
• Membership fees (ordinary, extraordinary and honorary members)
• Grants from the European Union and other international organizations as well as national governments
• Project grants from programmes of European and international organisations, as well as from private foundations
• Donations, collections, and other contributions

• Andrada Filip (February 14, 2017): WAVE Thematic Paper “Preventing and eradicating femicide”. http://fileserver.wave-network.org/researchreports/Thematic_Paper_Femicide_15Febr2017.pdf
• WAVE FACT SHEET & STATISTICS (December 1, 2016): Violence against women and their children – Facts and figures: http://fileserver.wave-network.org/researchreports/2016_WAVE_Statistic.pdf

• Andrada Filip (February 14, 2017): WAVE Thematic Paper “Preventing and eradicating femicide”. http://fileserver.wave-network.org/researchreports/Thematic_Paper_Femicide_15Febr2017.pdf Retrieved 2017 08 18
• Caputi J., & Russell, D., (1997): Femicide: Speaking the Unspeakable. In Richardson L., Taylor, V. & Whittier, N. eds. Feminist Frontiers VI, p. 425, McGraw-Hill: New York.
• Rashida Manjoo (May 23, 2012): Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences. http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/A.HRC.20.16_En.pdf Retrieved 2017 08 18
• WAVE FACT SHEET & STATISTICS (December 1, 2016): Violence against women and their children – Facts and figures: http://fileserver.wave-network.org/researchreports/2016_WAVE_Statistic.pdf Retrieved 2017 08 18
• WAVE Report 2015 (2016), p. 5. http://fileserver.wave-network.org/researchreports/WAVE_Report_2015.pdf
• WAVE Statutes (2014) https://www.wave-network.org/images/PDFs/WAVE_Statutes_English.pdf Retrieved 2017 08 21
• Women Against Violence Europe www.wave-network.org

WAVE NETWORK & EUROPEAN INFO CENTRE AGAINST VIOLENCE
Bacherplatz 10/6
1050 Vienna, Austria
Phone: +43 (0) 1 548 272 0
Fax: +43 (0) 1 548 272 027
www.wave-network.org
E-mail: office@wave-network.org
Skype name: wave-office

Violence against women and their children is not only a crime, but exists as part of a wider structural issue, and often exists as a result of – or in relation to – organised criminal activities. The actions of WAVE remain highly relevant because:
• “62 million women in the EU have experienced violence since the age of 15”,
• “1 in 5 women experience physical and sexual violence from their (former) partner”,
• “Violence doesn´t stop in pregnancy and continues after separation”,
• through witnessing violence against their mother/sisters, children are always suffering from domestic violence
• Latest migration and the growing mobility of people in the European Countries have increased the number of cases of violence against women and domestic violence.
The non-profit oriented association WAVE
• is the only European institution of this type focusing solely on the elimination of violence against women and children,
• aims at establishing gender equality by eliminating all forms of violence against women and children in public and private life,
• adheres to the objectives of the United Nations, in accordance with the Vienna Declaration, the Declaration on Violence against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action and all other related documents.

Not enough information. Very few studies have been conducted by the network itself into the level of violence against women that the network has mitigated or prevented versus other networks of a similar kind.

• WAVE builds itself on the contributions, donations and grants of very large organisations and interested individuals and stakeholders. It therefore represents a low-cost option for those aiming to set up a similar model. However (See point 14) it is clear that it would be difficult to replicate this model at its current level, and therefore may be less cost efficient when transferred.

• By broadening the knowledge base on specialist women’s support services in Europe as well as supporting initiatives aiming to prevent and combat violence against women and children, the impact of WAVE is internationally acknowledged and visible in the framework of its activities and projects. For further information please see the WAVE Report 2015 (2016).

Very sustainable; has been being implemented for a long period of time.

The number of actors involved in the network, and the number and type of collaborations between victims, NGOs, activists, government bodies and the private sector means that this initiative could be considered very inclusive.