Project period: April 2019 to December 2022
Complaints systems give residents of women's shelters the opportunity to express their needs and concerns, thus strengthening the rights of women affected by violence. Complaints procedures lead to more constructive collaboration within the facility and provide long-term relief for the entire team. They represent an important quality criterion in the work of women's shelters.
With the project "Complaint management for quality development in women’s shelters” Based on a scientific survey, women's shelter coordination developed recommendations and practical materials for complaint procedures and tested them at four model locations.
The project was funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.
Implementing participation and complaint procedures in women's shelters requires patience and perseverance. Finding a good starting point as a team is sometimes not so easy. We asked violence protection professionals about their experiences, helpful tips, and assessments and compiled the answers on this page.
Amra Rapp-Ibrasimovic is an employee at the Neustadt women's shelter and a participant in the FHK project "Complaint Management for Quality Improvement in Women's Shelters" at the model location in Neustadt an der Weinstraße. During the one-year process support program, she and her team extensively explored the topics of participation and complaints. Amra's recommendation for women's shelters that don't know where to start: just do it! She also explains in the interview why attitude is so important when it comes to complaint management.
In Berlin we have Alice Westphal She represents the perspective of women affected by violence, among other things, at the SIGNAL association as a founding and board member. While Alice associates the word "complaint" with "serious" and would prefer a different term, she clearly sees complaint management as a source of help and an opportunity to establish a level playing field between residents and staff.
In Marburg we met Johanna Bacher, employee at the women's shelter of Frauen helfen Frauen eV and Hatice Kaya, Contact point for refugees and migrants, coordination of projects for women and children. A collaboration between the Marburg Women's Shelter and Hatice Kaya has been established as part of an EU-funded project. As ombudsperson, Hatice Kaya receives complaints from residents of the women's shelter, processes them together with the complainant, and, if requested, returns them to the staff. In this video, the two share their experiences with this special form of external complaint management.
The following federal associations are members of the Women’s Shelter Coordination Association
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