Autonomous Women's House Zagreb- Women Against Violence Against Women

Our Mission

Autonomous Women's house Zagreb (AWHZ) is a women-led non-profit organization whose goal is to enable women to live their lives free of violence and enjoy all the human rights in a gender equal society. We opened the first shelter for women who survived gender-based violence in Eastern Europe in 1990. Since then, we have been providing free shelter, psycho-social support and legal counseling to women and their children survivors of gender-based violence in the territory of Croatia, including supporting migrant women victims of gender-based violence who needed help. Our ultimate goal is to contribute to the prevention of violence against women and to ensure better legal frameworks and public policies, taking into account the needs of women survivors of gender-based violence, as well as the needs of their children. Two main objectives of our organization are: 1) Provide protection from gender-based and family violence for women and their children, 2) Prevent violence against women and oppose violations of women's rights.

Specific objectives are: - provide free shelter, food and basic needs supply to women and children victims of family violence, - provide psycho-social support to women and children in the shelter and at the counseling services centre, - provide free legal advice to women in the shelter and at the counseling services centre, - monitor existing legal framework related to women's right and advocate for change, - raise public awareness on the problem of gender-based and family violence, - organize public actions, educational and promotional activities, - strengthen the collaboration and sharing of expertise with other women's organizations.

Our activities are tailored to the needs of women survivors or gender-based violence and include: 1) provision of free shelter at a secret address, as well as assistance in food and basic needs to women and children who have suffered gender-based or family violence, 2) provision of psycho-social support to women and children and help them to overcome the traumatic experience and start a new life, 3) provision of assistance and support to women using free SOS telephone and personal counseling in our counseling centre, 4) provision of free legal counseling and psychological counselling for women victims of gender-based violence, 5) monitoring of existing laws and regulations related to women's rights at national and international levels, advocate and lobby for women's rights, better laws and public politics that will protect women from violence, 6) liaising with relevant institutions with the aim to help women who have been exposed to family violence exercise their rights, 6) raising awareness of the general public on gender-based violence and its consequences on women and children, and promote women's rights, 7) educating representatives from the government, different public institutions and NGOs on how to fight against gender-based violence and share experiences and good practices.

Over the course of 31 years we have supported over 47000 women and their children. Since its formation in 1990, AWHZ has been a pioneer organization in advocating for women's rights in the region. We opened the first Shelter for women survivors of gender-based violence in South-East Europe, provided our support and paved the way for many other women-led organizations in the region. We influenced a number of international standards, laws and public policies with our monitoring, advocating and educational programmes. We use media campaigns to raise awareness on violence against women and gender inequality. We collaborate with women's organizations at national, regional and international levels to establish comprehensive legislative framework for the protection of women from gender-based violence. We continuously educate public service workers, medical staff, volunteers and representatives of NGOs on gender-based violence and women's rights. We participate in numerous women-led organizations and networks both nationally and internationally.