December 21, 2012
The following publications have been produced within the Daphne III funded European project titled Flying Team Against Violence: Combating Honour Related Violence and Forced Marriages. – […]
FREE-DVV – Financial Resources and Education to Empower Domestic Violence Victims
Date: October 2025 - September 2027
Economic violence is a critical yet often overlooked form of domestic violence that restricts victims-survivors’ autonomy and ability to leave abusive relationships. FREE-DVV addresses this gap by focusing on financial empowerment as a key pathway to independence and safety.
Funded by the Erasmus+ Programme, FREE-DVV runs from October 2025 to September 2027 and aims to strengthen professional responses to economic abuse while empowering survivors through targeted financial education, digital tools, and awareness-raising actions.
The project supports professionals working with domestic violence survivors to better recognise and respond to economic violence, while enabling survivors to build financial awareness, practical skills, and confidence to support their path towards autonomy.
FREE-DVV will develop a guidebook for professionals, a survivor-focused workbook combining financial literacy and psychosocial empowerment, a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), and a series of advocacy and capacity-building actions at local, national, and European levels.
By addressing economic violence at both institutional and individual levels, FREE-DVV seeks to improve policy and practice, enhance survivors’ financial independence, and strengthen the recognition of economic violence across the European Union.
→ Learn more about the FREE-DVV project
Coordinator: University of Tartu – Estonia
Partners: Asociación Bienestar y Desarrollo (ABD) – Spain; Asociația ANAIS – Romania; Una Casa per l’Uomo – Italy; Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies – Cyprus
Project ID: 2025-KA220ADU-02
PHAROS – Pathways to Support to End Gender-Based Violence
Date: May 2025 - April 2026
The PHAROS project aims to offer concrete information and guidance on pathways to support and protection to victims/survivors of GBV facilitating access to justice in Cyprus. The informational platform developed serves as a digital first point of contact and resource directory for victims, safeguarding women’s rights in the context of GBV, allowing them to seek and obtain support, protection, and legal remedies towards safety and freedom from revictimization. Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) undertakes the mapping of existing formal and informal resources/information (online/offline) for victims of Violence Against Women(VAW)/Domestic Violence(DV), holding regular stakeholder meetings and raising awareness for the informational platform both through traditional and social media.
The project is primarily addressed to victims and survivors of GBV/DV, as well as to various policymakers and frontline professionals who can provide additional guidance to women by referring them to support, protection, and justice services through their daily practice.
The PHAROS project is implemented in the framework of the PREVENT program by the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies. PREVENT is co-funded by the European Union, through the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) program, the Bodossaki Foundation, and the NGO Support Centre.
Coordinator: Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies
Project ID: PREVENT2025/CY02
“Ε.Σ.Υ.” (From Ratification to Implementation) Project Summary
Date: 1 April 2025 – 30 September 2025
ΕΣΥ aims to advance national efforts in fostering a culture of accountability and safety for women in Cyprus, aligned with the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention framework. The failure to systematically enforce legislative updates and clinical definitions may inadvertently lead to delayed protections and vulnerable conditions for female service-users. The term “Implementation Gaps” encompasses various structural barriers, high national femicide rates, and a lack of widespread public awareness that hinder safe, equal environments.
Comprehensive state protection goes beyond passing new legislation but addresses common societal issues, especially in transitioning legal landscapes, such as a sharp rise in domestic violence, systemic gender misinformation, and a lack of localized institutional support for informed survival. Key to this initiative is the Right to Protection and Institutional Accountability, promoting shared societal responsibility between state policymakers, public digital influencers, and citizen service-users.
Project Objectives:
- Examine current national protection needs from the perspective of state policymakers and women.
- Establish systemic principles, intervention processes, and standards of care through participatory collaboration.
- Develop necessary public awareness and institutional competences through education and targeted advocacy.
- Identify and promote high standards of legislative execution as a right and civil obligation.
Project Activities:
- Research and Diagnostics: Structural monitoring and monthly thematic documentation to track the implementation of state commitments.
- National Strategies and Protocols: Engage public digital influencers and state policymakers to break down misinformation regarding gender-based violence protections.
- Educational Toolkit Development: Produce and test digital media frameworks, including dedicated educational podcasts and video interviews.
- Public Awareness Campaign: Drive active community participation via social media pushes using the national #ΕΣΥ and #EndVAWCNow campaign hashtags.
Partners: Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) – Project Lead
Funding Body: Council of Europe
WE-Pods: Women's Equality Podcasts
Date: April 2024 – March 2025
WE-PODs is a one-year project that aims to amplify women's voices in public dialogue and combat the gender gap in media representation. By training women in Cyprus to use podcasts as a dynamic form of expression, WE-PODs enhances democracy and pluralism in the media. The project will offer an open and inclusive platform for women’s voices, by producing more than 30 podcasts with women emphasizing European Union values such as respect, dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and human rights. .
The project activities include conducting an open training for women in podcast production; the creation and dissemination of 30 podcasts with women; public discussions, and publishing an electronic compilation of stories from women podcast participants.
Coordinators: Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies – Cyprus
Project No: CERV-BUILD-CY-A02
RESPECT Project: Fostering a Culture of Respectful Maternity Care (RMC)
Date: 1 April 2023 - 31 March 2025
In this initiative, we aim to advance local efforts in fostering a culture of RESPECT within maternity-child health care services, aligned with WHO's framework and the White Ribbon Alliance's Charter of Rights for Respectful Maternity Care (RMC). The failure to adhere to the highest clinical and ethical standards may inadvertently lead to disrespectful experiences for pregnant/birthing women service-users. The term "Disrespect and Abuse" encompasses various situations and suboptimal practices that hinder a positive birth experience.
Respectful Maternity Care goes beyond countering negative experiences but addresses common issues, especially in high-income countries, such as lack of autonomy, ineffective communication, medicalization of birth, and insufficient support for informed decision-making. Key to RMC is the Right to Information and Informational Support, promoting shared decision-making between healthcare providers and women/service-users.
Project Objectives:
- Examine current needs from the perspective of healthcare providers and women.
- Establish principles, processes, and standards of care through participatory collaboration.
- Develop necessary skills and competences through education and training.
- Identify and promote high standards of clinical practice as a right and obligation.
Project Activities:
- Research activities: Online surveys, focus group discussions, and workshops to understand RMC in Cyprus and Croatia.
- National Strategies and Protocols: Engage professional associations and stakeholders to draft strategies for Respectful Maternity Care.
- Training Curriculum: Develop and test a manual for healthcare professionals and future parents.
- Public Awareness Campaign: Promote active participation in decision-making for Respectful Maternity Care.
Partners: Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) – Project lead, Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (Cyprus), Birth Forward Cyprus: Birth Forward (BF), Roda - Roditelji u akciji (Croatia), University of Genoa (UNIGE): University of Genoa - DINOGMI (Department of Neurology, Genetics, Ophthalmology, Maternal and Infant Sciences)
Affiliated Partners:
Project No: 101096363 – CERV-DAPHNE--2022
EP for Women #EP4Women
EP for Women is a project being implemented within the framework of the European Parliament’s Citizens’ Engagement Actions. The main aim of the action is to reaffirm gender equality as one of the fundamental values of the European Union, and to highlight the role of the European Parliament in promoting the gender equality and women’s rights agenda across the EU.
The specific objectives of the action include placing gender equality and women’s rights on the political agenda for the June 2021 parliamentary elections, and taking sake stock of progress made and the steps needed to be taken on key areas of concern.
Project activities include a series of online events involving civil society organisations other key stakeholders to promote public dialogue and citizen engagement around the key gender equality policy domains covered by the EIGE Gender Equality Index 2020. The project will also implement a social media campaign to raise public awareness on key women’s rights issues.
Project code: COMM/SUBV/2020/E/0013
Engaged in Equality – Challenging masculinities and engaging adolescent boys to end gender-based violence
Date: February 2022 – January 2024
The aim of the project is to question harmful hegemonic masculinity, challenge rigid gender stereotypes and roles and equally engage boys and girls in the fight for gender equality and justice.
The project will contribute to the prevention of gender-based violence among adolescents by raising awareness on the need to tackle the harmful effects of hegemonic masculinity and by developing comprehensive and effective strategies to prevent unequal power relationships between adolescents at the national and European levels. This will be achieved through an innovative and previously tested approach utilising audio-visual media and music and through the capacity building of teachers and educators. In this way, adolescent boys will be engaged as allies in the elimination of gender-based violence, adolescent girls will be empowered to reject abusive behaviours and relationships, and exchange, understanding and cooperation between boys and girls will be strengthened to jointly contribute to healthy and positive relationships.
Project activities include: developing training modules and practical tools for teachers and educators on gender-based violence prevention; awareness-raising activities for adolescent boys and empowerment activities for adolescent girls in schools through audio-visual media and music; peer-to-peer workshops among students on challenging hegemonic masculinity and building healthy relationships; a European Youth Forum and Teachers Seminar for mutual learning; and an awareness –raising campaign.
Coordinators: SURT (Catalonia, Spain)
Partners: Peace Institute (Slovenia), Istituto degli Innocenti (Italy), Institut für Männer- und Geschlechterforschung (Austria) and the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) (Cyprus).
Play 4 Your Rights! Innovative Media Education Strategies against Sexism and Discrimination (Play4!)
Date: January 2020 - January 2023
The project’s main objective is to foster critical and creative use of social media amongst young people to fight gender-based stereotypes, discrimination and sexist hate speech. The project will be implemented in Italy, Germany, Cyprus and Lithuania. It builds on the work of previous projects: BRICkS (building respect on the internet by combating hate speech) (2014-2016), Media Against Hate, (2016-2018), and Silence Hate (2017-2019).
Play 4! makes innovative use of media, digital games and gamification in order to engage teenagers on the key topic of gender-based discrimination. Project activities include an online campaign, public events and meetings with local authorities. These not only target teenagers but also teachers, educators, staff, families of adolescents, local authorities and the general public. The project promotes critical thinking, active citizenship and social inclusion.
Coordinator: COSPE, Italy
Partners: COSPE, Italy,ZAFFIRIA, Casa Delle Donne, Italy, Medien + bildung.com (m+b), Germany, Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies, Cyprus, Women’s Issues Information Centre (WIIC), Lithuania
Project code: EACEA/21/2018
BEE: Boosting gender Equality in education
Date:December 2020 – November 2022
BEE is a two-year transnational project involving four European countries: Cyprus, Italy, Romania, and Lithuania.
The aim of the project is to eliminate gender stereotypes in early childhood education involving children and professionals at kindergarten, pre-primary and primary school levels. The BEE project focuses on seizing the opportunities provided through primary education to improve the educational context in relation to gender equality issues. It will be implemented in schools in Cyprus, Italy, Lithuania, and Romania offering training opportunities and free workshops with gender experts to education practitioners, as well as managerial and support staff.
Overall, the project will enrich the skills of primary school teachers to address gender stereotypes in the early childhood educational context, through the introduction of innovative educational interventions harmonized with the existing school curriculum. The project also aims to impact the wider society by raising awareness of how early childhood education can contribute to a more inclusive and just society.
Coordinators: COSPE, Italy
Partners: Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (Cyprus), Casa della Donna di Pisa (Italy), A.L.E.G. (Romania), Women’s Issues Information Centre (Lithuania).
Project code: 101005489 - REC-RGEN-WWLB-AG-2020
FEM-UnitED to prevent IPV/DV Femicide in Europe
Date:November 2020 – November 2022
FEM-UnitED to prevent IPV/DV Femicide in Europe is a two-year transnational project involving five European countries: Cyprus, Germany, Malta, Portugal and Spain.
The project will focus on the prevention of femicide – the intentional killing of women because they are women - in the context of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and/or Domestic Violence (DV). As data on femicide is widely unavailable in Europe, this project aims to create an evidence base to raise awareness among front-line professionals, policy makers, as well as the general public, on the prevention of IPV/DV-related femicide.
Project activities include trainings of front-line professionals (police, social and healthcare workers, NGOs and victim support services) on the gendered dynamics of IPV/DV-related femicide, engaging policy makers through the holding of multi-stakeholder forums, as well as a multimedia awareness raising campaign targeted at the general public across the EU.
This project builds on the work of the EU-funded project COST Action on Femicide across Europe (2014-2017) that resulted in the establishment of the European Observatory on Femicide (EOF), the first European-wide network monitoring cases of femicide and contributing to the prevention of femicide.
Coordinators: Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS), Cyprus
Partners: Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS), Cyprus, University of Malta, Malta, The Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus, The Institute for Empirical Sociological Research at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, The University of Zaragoza, Spain, The University of Porto, Portugal, Women’s Rights Foundation, Malta, UMAR – União de Mulheres Alternativa e Resposta, Portugal.
Project code: REC-RDAP-GBV-AG-2020 - 101005727
ARTEMIS
Date: February 2020 - February 2022
This project aims to increase the level of awareness of the European Protection Order (EPO) among European citizens, lawyers and the personnel of NGOs and CSOs. This is to support women who have experienced domestic violence, stalking or other forms of abuse, so that they may be protected not only in their home country but in any European country they wish to travel to or reside in.
The European Protection Order was introduced by EC Directive 2011/99/EU to allow judicial protection orders issued in criminal proceedings in one Member State to be applied in another.
The ARTEMIS project will aid professionals likely to meet victims in need of protective measures and address a gap in data as very little has thus far been collected on the European or Member State level to assess the use of EPOs. The expected results of the project are an increased number of EPOs requested and issued.
More info and updates on the project here
Partners: EBIT SRL, Italy, PROGEU (Progress in European Union), Italy, Autonomous Women’s House Zagreb, Croatia, Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies(MIGS), Cyprus, Union of Women’s Association Heraklion Prefecture, Greece, proFem, Center for Victims of Domestic & Sexual Violence, Czech Republic
Project code: JUST-JACC-AG-2019
Mothers and Daughters: Narratives on sexuality and relationships.
Date: November 2020 – October 2021
“Mothers and Daughters” is a ten-month transnational project involving Cyprus and Lebanon and funded by the Anna Lindh Foundation Network.
The “Mothers and Daughters” project aims to foster intergenerational alliances between women, by exploring the mother-daughter relationship as a conduit for personal empowerment, personal agency and self-efficacy in making decisions about gender roles, sexuality and relationships.
A key project activity is to engage mothers and daughters, aged over 18, in a facilitated intergenerational dialogue about their experiences of gender, sexuality and relationships. Dialogue and storytelling between mothers and daughters will help identify and analyse aspects of this intergenerational interaction and the way it informs the journey of gendered experiences, socialization as well as the construction of perceptions and attitudes about sexuality in our society. The project will take place simultaneously in Cyprus and Lebanon, aiming to illuminate the intercultural dimensions of these issues in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Grassroots activists working on youth and women's rights will also be empowered through knowledge and tools to further support and strengthen these intergenerational alliances.
Coordinators: Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS), Cyprus
Partners: Collective for Research & Training on Development - Action (CRTD.A.), Lebanon. Cyprus Family Planning Association (CFPA), Cyprus.
Funded by:
Project code: ALF/CFP/2020/ICO/198
Dream Fighters – Combating Gender Stereotypes through Play (Play4!)
Date: January 2020 - June 2020
The project Dream Fighters: Combating gender stereotypes through play aims to challenge gendered attitudes and behaviour patterns among youth with the aim to reduce gender segregation in career and life paths. /p>
The project activities include awareness raising workshops with youth workers and education professionals using innovative pedagogical tools including GenderEd educational programme and the Dream Fighters app. These innovative resources equip youth workers and educators with the tools to combat gender stereotypes and encourage young girls and boys to explore the influence they have on their educational choices and life chances.
Coordinator:Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS)
Partners: Cyprus Youth Council
Project code: 2020C YP1
Improving Justice in Child Contact (IJCC)
Date: November 2018 - November 2020
Improving Justice in Child Contact (IJCC) is a research project between five European countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Scotland, Portugal and Romania.
The project’s aim is to improve how children’s rights are upheld in child contact systems, where the children have experienced domestic abuse. Together, the partners will find out what can be improved in order to effectively listen to children and young people and to make changes which ensure their safety and the safety of their mothers.
Each country will be exploring ways for children and young people to participate in their own particular context. Taking forward the learning and outcomes from two Scottish models – Power Up, Power Down, and the Children’s Rights officer, to develop their own individual needs. The project partners will each work alongside key stakeholders in their home countries (e.g. the police, social workers, the judiciary) to examine and improve the barriers which stop children’s views being taken into account in child contact decisions.
More info and updates on the project here
Coordinator: The University of Edinburgh
Partners: Bulgarian gender research foundation, Bulgaria, The Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies, Cyprus, Centre for Studies for Social Intervention, Portugal, Women’s Union for Alternative and Response, Community Safety and Mediation Centre Foundation, Romania
Project code: REC-AG-2017/REC-RDAP- GBV-AG-2017
Risk Assessment by Police of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women
Date: May 2018 - April 2019
The project - that the partners are implementing on behalf of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) - carries out an overview and evaluation of risk assessment and risk management mechanisms as they have been designed and deployed across police forces in the 28 EU Member States, specifically targeting intimate partner violence (IPV) against women. .
The overall objective of this project is to contribute to an improved institutional response by EU Member States in combating violence against women. The project looks to achieve its aim by supporting and strengthening efforts by Member States, specifically their respective police forces, in accurately assessing and managing the risk of further victimisation, thus putting the protection of women at the forefront.
The study also aims to support Member States in meeting the requirements of the legal framework set by the EU (e.g. The Victims’ Rights Directive) as well as the Istanbul Convention regarding the protection of women who have been victims of IPV.
Partners: Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS), Istituto per la Ricerca Sociale (IRS)
Project code: EIGE/2018/OPER/03
March 27, 2012
September 24, 2011
The following resources are a result of the transnational project Young Migrant Women in Secondary Education: Promoting Integration and Mutual Understanding through Dialogue and Exchange. 1) Young […]
September 13, 2011
June 30, 2011
June 8, 2011
May 11, 2011
January 29, 2011
MIGS has published the results of a study conducted within the framework of the REACT to Domestic Violence: Building a Support System for Victims of Domestic […]