Our service includes:

Advice for abused women and their children

This counselling service is open to all women suffering from domestic
violence. Special help for immigrant women and their children related
to their legal and social status and migration experiences includes
specific counselling, legal advice concerning residence permits and
immigration law

• accompanying and support in case of institutional discrimination
  by authorities at accomodation office or job centre
  

• advice for family members

• follow-up advice

• translation services

Many immigrant women who are victims of domestic violence suffer
from specific mental and physical strain. Living in a violent relationship,
the fear of losing the residence permit and general feelings of
hopelessness and disillusionment about life can be mentallay and
physically very damaging. Because of discrimination in employment
women have great difficulties to become independent from the benefits
of social welfare. As German authorities still show little effort for
immigrant women's integration into employment, their chances to find
qualified jobs are poor. These aspects in combination with financial
difficulties can lead to depressions and psychosomatic diseases.
Women in these situations usually have a specific need for counselling.
After the first interview they can get help by measures of crisis
intervention in a shelter or in further institutions or by therapy respectively.
We can give support in finding a job and in contacting the authorities.
After the counselling, women feel encouraged to manage their own affairs
and they can stand up to their tormentors more confidently. During the
interviews we try to meet the women's desire to talk about tabooed
topics like sexuality and psychotherapy. If we can't provide full
answers to the women's questions about health care and further support
ourselves, we will either organize information meetings or send them to
further institutions.

Accompanying and translation service

Immigrant women in their everyday life are confronted with various kinds of discrimination (discrimination in employment, discrimination in house-hunting, discrimination in welfare institutions). Employees often treat immigrant women as second class customers, they do not inform them about their rights and they discriminate against in discretionary decisions. Therefore accompanying women is an essential part of our work. In company they feel empowered and we have often made the experience that applications that had already been denied were now granted. Thus accompanying can reduce discrimination in authorities. For women in crises this can have a great effect. A further side-effect of accom- panying can be the improvment of the women's orientation capacity and of their ability to manage their everyday life.

Abused immigrant women live in specific and unique circumstances which are characterized by limited German language skills, residence permit problems, unfamiliarity with the new culture and lack of social support. Consequently, they need more intensive and specific advice and support. Although our staff is multi- cultural, we frequently have to ask interpreters for help. Our institution cooperates with a number of qualified interpreters; our list of partners for translation work is continually dated up.

Free legal advice

The women's chances to develop their lives is closely connected to their immigration status. In case that they have a legal status, it is possible to arrange their financial situation and this will enable them to tackle their physical and mental situation as well as family troubles. Our legal counselling service provides information as well as the reflection about steps concerning

• problems relating to immigration law (such as residence permit, § 19, the
  exceptional leave to remain = Duldung, asylum)

• problems relating to Family Law (responsibility for children's upbringing,
  custody, divorce)

• information concerning charges against tormentors settlement of alimony conflicts

• information about all forms of social aid

• information about Rent Law

• information how the legislation concerning protection against violence is set into practise

• information about alternative shelter-giving institutions for women

Follow-up counselling and advice for familiy members

We repeatedly noted that women who had a long stay in our shelter and were undergoing an intensive process of counselling with one of our staff members contacted them again in case of problems or crises, although they had already left our institution. The counselling service for family members offers a wide range of support. As there is open access to our counselling office, which is separate from the shelter and the sheltered housing project, even men can meet their battered female relatives and get advice there. Thus, women can start to rebuild their new life with the support of family members in a safe atmosphere. For some immigrant women this approach has turned out as a good alternative to breaking off their relations to their families completely.

Counselling service for experts

Many staff members of social services feel unsure in the handling of battered immigrant women and they need information which enables them to give adequate advice to the women in need. The Interkulturelle Initiative offers information and counselling for experts working in institutions where especially immigrant women can find support but also for those working in institutions like hospitals, schools, universities, lawyers' offices, etc.

Hereby our aims are:

• To sensitise experts for the problem of violence against women
  and for violence in immigrant families in particular

• Conveying of information

• Preventing of secondary victimization

Informational meetings

Women living in our sheltered institutions can get information either by individual counselling or in informational meetings. We have presented meetings on the following topics so far:

• health reproduction
• sexuality and traditions
• female roles
• clashes between the generations
• sexual abuse upon children
• living with different cultures
• substance abuse

Also information on education and vocational training are of special interest. The women living in our sheltered projects have a great desire to reflect upon all kinds of topics that can help them to tackle their experiences with violence.

In the course of our counselling work we have found the following
subjects being most important:

• how do gender roles change in the course of individuals'migration biography living with different cultures/living between different countries, identity- related problems, life concepts of first, second and third generation members the goals of education; education in practice

• Leben zwischen den Kulturen/Ländern,
  Identitätsprobleme und Lebensentwürfe der ersten,
  zweiten und dritten Generation

• Erziehungsziele und –Praktiken

• preventing drug abuse

• advice to facilitate access to adequate vocational training

• school problems,
  information about the German school system

• children's diseases

Hotline assistance

Hotline: 030/611 03 00
Friday 9 a.m. till 6 p.m.

Once a week our counselling office is connected to the BIG hotline and during these hours counselling is done. Advice-seeking women have the opportunity to receive individual counselling on the phone. Thereby, they can ask for a place in a shelter. Individual legal counselling is offered during these hours, too. Our advisory service is also open to familiy members, spouses and friends of women in need as well as for experts and institutions.

The Interkulturelle Initiative puts effort into recruiting additional counsellors who can speak the immigrant women's languages. The first access to our institution can be vital in a situation of crisis and determine a woman's future seeking for help. Consequently, advisers who do telephone counselling should besides their qualifications have good skills in the clients' languages as well as a high receptiveness to other cultures.

Hotline assistance includes:

• intervention in crises

• conveying of information

• referral services

• psychosocial advice in general

• arrangement for individual counselling

• Clearing up for admission to our shelter

• Arrangement for individual advice by a lawyer

• Clearing up for admission to our sheltered housing project