Project advisory board launched: Focus on intersectional protection of women from violence

The project “Different yet strong – addressing intersectionality in women’s shelters” has started with important first steps: In autumn 2025, the project advisory board met for the first time, the model locations came together – and at the kick-off workshop at the beginning of December, work was done together to make the protection of women from violence more sensitive to discrimination and more intersectional.

Kick-off: Project advisory board and model sites begin their collaboration

The project advisory board held its first meeting in October. The members got to know each other and gathered key topics and ideas for further project work. At the same time, the model sites met for the first time in a virtual exchange with process support and project coordination. 

Who is represented on the project advisory board?

The project advisory board brings together expertise from women's shelters, counselling centers, research and activism: 

Rouba El-Diab (she/her)

Rouba El-Diab is a social worker at the women's shelter, specializing in intersectional counseling and support for women* and their children affected by violence.
Their focus is on raising awareness of multiple discrimination and empowering marginalized women* and their children – for example, when violence is intertwined with racism, classism, or other forms of discrimination.

Davina Kronshage (she/her)

Davina Kronshage has worked as a social worker in low-threshold emergency housing assistance for six years. In a system full of structural barriers, she is committed to supporting people according to their individual needs and available resources and helping them to obtain their rights.
A feminist perspective is essential for her, as is the continuous reflection on her own positioning in her work. She places particular emphasis on exchange, networking, and collaboration with others – for her, a key quality criterion of social work.

Lux Homfeldt (- / they / dey)

Lux Homfeldt is a social worker and applied sexologist in training. Professionally, Lux is at home in (queer-)feminist social work; previous fields of work included violence protection, queer and sexual education work and advising LGBTQIA+ people in a community association.
Currently, dey is writing her master's thesis, "Gender Sensitivity and Intersectionality in Shelters for Victims of Violence: A Qualitative Study on Access and Barriers for Trans*, Inter*, and Non-Binary People Seeking Protection in Saxony." Lux engages with intersectional processes of opening up in both academic and private-political contexts.

agisra eV

agisra is an autonomous, feminist information and advice center by and for migrant women*, refugee women*, Black women*, and all those affected by racism. The organization opposes all forms of Discrimination one – including antisemitism, Islamophobia, antigypsyism, racism and sexism.
The transcultural team speaks numerous languages; further consultations are possible with interpreters. agisra understands social work as a human rights profession: The organization informs women about their rights, empowers them in crisis situations, and provides advice regardless of origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, language, or residency status – solution-oriented, anti-racist, feminist, and transcultural. 
A person from agisra brings these perspectives to the project advisory board.

Laura Gehlhaar (she/her)

Laura Gehlhaar holds degrees in social pedagogy and psychology. She lives in Berlin and works as an author and business consultant for inclusion and anti-discrimination; she advises organizations on diversity, justice and inclusion and regularly participates in podcasts and public discussions.
On social media, she passionately advocates for a progressive view of inclusion – based on the conviction that a strong democracy is founded on diversity and participation. Her first book, "Kann man da noch was machen?" (Can anything still be done?), was published by Heyne Verlag in 2016, and in 2022 she contributed an essay on self-empowerment and self-determination as a disabled woman to the anthology "Unlearn Patriarchy".

What are the next steps?

The first in-person kick-off workshop will take place in December – with the aim of working together on a discrimination-sensitive and intersectional development of women's protection against violence.