Conception & Guidelines
Project and Capacities
When it all started
Mission statement
Our Clients
Catchment Area
Major Goals of the Work in the Women's Shelter
Shelter Guidelines
Project and Capacities
BORA provides a 53-bed shelter for women and children fleeing violence.top
When it all started
27 years ago the first women's shelter opened in Berlin, now there are six shelters in the city. And although the shelters' staff have been working very successfully during these years, it is a sad fact that the incidents of violence against women and children have not decreased correspondingly.
The Berlin Public Prosecutor's Department Against Domestic Violence ("Amtsanwaltschaft, Dezernat zur Bekämpfung häuslicher Gewalt") in one year alone instituted 3600 proceedings again domestic violence (fall of 1996/97). Reliable estimates see the percentage of undetected and unreported incidents of violence against women at a rate of 1:10 to 1:20. Adding to the official number of victims of domestic violence the reported cases of rape, an estimated 40.000 to 80.000 women become victims of violence in the City of Berlin in one year alone. This estimate is even increased by the number of women who are coerced or sold into prostitution, who are sold into enforced marriages, and women who are stalked and terrorized by strangers. Considering this huge amount of violent crime against women, the 326 beds Berlin's women's shelters are providing for the victims seem rather inadequate.
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Mission statement
Violence against women and children is no exception or anomaly but the every-day reality in a society which considers itself enlightened and humane.
The BORA Women's Shelter wants to educate the public about this fact and engage in activities towards ending violence against women.
We offer protection and support for women and children fleeing violence. We see ourselves as advocates for women and work in cooperation with them. We are keenly aware of the political and economic structures of society which allow for and prolong violence against women, of the historical and contemporary causes for male violence which has such devastating effects on the lives of women and children. This awareness informs our daily work with the women, it can be seen in the solidarity of the shelter residents, it forms an essential part of our advocacy and political activism for women and of the women's projects' network which we are part of.
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Our Clients
The BORA Women's Shelter is a safe-house for women and children who have become victims of violence. The shelter is open for women of all ages, all nationalities, and all religions with no regard to income.Boys older than 14 years need to live outside of the women's shelter until a place is found where they can live together with the mother (e.g. in a subsidized apartment for battered women]). Boys older than 14 years who need wheel-chair accessible housing are allowed to stay in BORA Women's Shelter.
- Institutions who may profit from our work and can contact us for further information:
- Senate of Berlin
- police
- press and media
- government agencies
- counseling centers ["Beratungsstellen"] and advocacy bureaus
Catchment Area
The work of BORA Women's Shelter is not restricted to a certain neighborhood or precinct or city, women from outside of Berlin are welcome to call. For safety reasons women living in the neighborhood of the BORA shelter most often need to be transferred to other women's shelters.top
Major Goals of the Women's Shelter Work
- BORA Women's Shelter attempts to protect women and their children from violence and to effect a change in the threatening conditions of their lives.
- The well-qualified BORA staff encourages women's self-initiative and a supportive atmosphere among the shelter residents. This allows the women to question traditional patriarchal and racist patterns in their lives and to develop and realize their own ideas and goals.
- With its feminist advocacy efforts BORA Women's Shelter attempts to better understand violence against women, speak publicly against this injustice and fight against it.
Shelter Guidelines
Feminist Advocacy
We see our work as advocacy for and with women. Please read our mission statement.Confidentiality
Confidentiality in the women's shelter means that the location of the shelter is kept secret. This is a safety rule against abusers pursuing women and children. Residents as well as staff are equally obliged to keep the shelter's address secret.Confidentiality also means that counseling is confidential. The women's shelter's staff are bound to professional discretion. Personal data or information is not passed on to institutions or individuals against the woman's will. Discretion among the women's shelter's residents and staff is part of the house rules.
Voluntary, fast, and easy admission
The fundamental prerequisite of our work is a woman's free decision to seek refuge in the shelter. The staff is not required to admit women who were ordered to come.The women's shelter hotline can be reached 24 hours a day. Women seeking help will be admitted to the shelter at once and without bureaucratic ado.
Individual length of stay
How long a woman stays in the shelter depends upon the individual circumstances in each woman's life. The shelter's guideline for the length of stay is "as long as necessary, as short as possible." Sometimes there are good reasons for a woman to stay in the shelter over an extended period of time. The woman's personal condition or outside factors might make a longer stay necessary. Outside factors like unclear residence statutes, legal proceedings, or the tight market for housing are beyond the influence of the woman and the staff.One-on-one case management ["Kontaktfrauensystem"] and individual, qualified counseling for all women, regardless of their background
During the time of her stay in the women's shelter each woman is assigned to one member of the staff, the so-called contact woman ["Kontaktfrau"]. Each child is assisted and supported by its own contact woman from the kids' staff. This system guarantees a continuity of the counseling process, it helps to build a relationship of trust which is the necessary basis for all successful social work. It also determines responsibilities within the team and in regards to authorities.
When working with immigrants we pay close attention to their place and culture of origin and their particular situation in Germany. We work with women translators or staff members who speak several languages. In our public relations work we strongly support the rights of women immigrants. There are women of diverse nationalities and cultural backgrounds in the women's shelter's team.
Staff members go through additional schooling on a regular basis. Supervision and evaluation tools are used to continually check the work in the shelter and adjust it to the residents' needs.
Residents can get legal counseling by a woman lawyer. We cooperate with a selected group of women psychologists, doctors and counseling centers.
Transparency
We attempt to be clear about how we work and how we reach decisions so everybody can understand and discuss the shelter's rules and the staff's decision-making processes.A Room of Her Own
For a minimum of privacy and quiet each resident and her children are given a room for her- or themselves. For women or children with wheelchairs we provide an accessible room.In regards to the shelter's capacities we need to call upon the Berlin Senate. The women residents cannot be expected to live in an over-crowded shelter, no matter how dire Berlin's financial situation.
Self-organization of Residents and "Aid for Self-Aid"
Without the residents' co-operation BORA Women's Shelter would not exist and daily life could not be maintained. The residents admit women at night and during the week-ends, at house meetings they organize daily life. The women help and mutually support each other. This experience forms one of the basic ideas of the women's shelter: Women's solidarity puts an end to men's violence. Sharing common experiences helps each woman to understand that suffering violence is not her individual fate. Women realize the extent of male violence, they can develop counter strategies.With our counseling and support work we do not want to bring women into new forms of dependence. Thus we avoid hierarchical structures and encourage women's self-initiative.
Quality Control
To guarantee and improve the quality of our work several quality control instruments are incorporated within the work processes of the women's shelter.Administration and Shelter Team
BORA headquarters is in charge of personnel and finances. Their professional administrative staff guarantees a well-planned and cost-effect organization of the work and the financial means of the women's shelter. The shelter team is in charge of running the women's shelter. Individual staff members are responsible for individual areas of work.The staff of BORA Women's Shelter is represented by an elected spokeswoman. ["Mitgliedervertretung"]
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