"Safe groups": interventions for women who have experienced migration and gender-based violence

In this project researchers, co-researchers with own experiences of forced migration and gender-based violence, and personnel from the Open Preschool, the Swedish Red Cross, and the women’s outpatient clinic at the National Centre for Knowledge on Men's Violence Against Women collaborate on psychosocial support for women with experiences of forced migration and gender-based violence. In particular, we explore how safe groups can be created and how social support and participating in the groups influence well-being. The project has several parts:

• Development and testing of a group intervention aimed to be used at Open Preschools to create dialogue and reflections around gender-based violence, support, and everyone’s right to feel well.
• Exploration of how personnel at Open Preschools and Civic Orientation experience encountering gender-based violence, and what training and resources they need.
• Evaluation of a group intervention offered by the Swedish Red Cross treatment centre for women with experiences of forced migration and intimate partner violence.

In this project, we use a co-creative research approach. Women with own experiences have been part of the steering group leading the project from the onset and will be conducting parts of the data collection and data analysis in the next steps of the project.