Project period: July 2020 to December 2022
The coronavirus pandemic has placed a heavy burden on women's shelters and counseling centers, presenting them with significant challenges, particularly in terms of technology. In July 2020, the Women's Shelter Coordination Office responded to the changed working conditions with the "Help System 2.0" project.
The project was funded with approximately 3,5 million euros as part of the federal funding program “Together against violence against women.”
The project was designed to ensure that protection and counseling facilities for women affected by violence remain operational and easily accessible for those seeking help, even under the challenging conditions of the Corona crisis.
In addition to basic technical equipment, this required the training of staff as well as offers for language mediation and low-threshold information.
From October 2020, violence protection facilities were able to apply for funding via an online portal.
A large portion of the implemented projects, with a volume of approximately €2,5 million and 598 approved applications, went toward improving technical equipment (Project Stream I), such as the purchase of laptops, high-performance telephone systems and internet access, smartphones, and software licenses. This enabled staff to work remotely and provide counseling by phone or computer, and enabled residents of women's shelters to participate in important integration and language courses, among other things.
In a second project strand (Project Strand II), the qualification of employees (e.g., for digital consulting formats and data protection), professional digital interpreting, and the design of accessible websites and information materials were also eligible for funding. These accounted for 199 projects with a total volume of approximately €700.000, thus representing the smaller proportion of applications.
By the end of the project in December 2022, FHK had been able to support more than 2.0 facilities for women and girls affected by violence in expanding their digital services with the “Help System 700” project.
Through around 800 implemented projects with a total volume of around 2,7 million euros, the technical equipment and digital knowledge of women's shelters and counseling centers have improved considerably within two years.
The FHK project “Help System 2.0” supported professionals in the protection against violence against women in the professional digital transformation of their field of work.
With the online publication "Help System 2.0 – How the Corona Pandemic is Accelerating the Digitalization of Women's Shelters and Counseling Centers" FHK takes a look at the needs of women in violence protection and digital progress in times of crisis.
The Online publication is available for free download here is available for storage, management and analysis.
The project was funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.
The following federal associations are members of the Women’s Shelter Coordination Association
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