Pro Youth project’s final seminar Honor related violence in the context of Jordan, Italy and Finland – Tools and practices hosted international and local guests on May 4th, 2023, at Oodi Library, Helsinki.
The seminar marked the end of the Pro Youth project. We at Sopu-work together with the other project partners were excited to present the practical tools developed in the project: a manual and training models for professionals, and a web app for young people as well as professionals.
Like the project itself, the seminar offered an opportunity to exchange ideas and knowledge on honour related violence as a phenomenon. First Mimmi Koukkula, a Senior Expert on work against Femile Genital Mutilation (FGM) and honour related violence at the Finnish institute for Health and Welfare (THL) gave the opening words at the seminar. Sopu-work’s Lead Specialist Johanna Aapakallio then drew our attention to language and emotions in her lecture on what honour related violence is.
In a panel discussion on how honour and honour related violence manifests in Finland, Jordan and Italy, we heard insights on the challenges and positive developments in each country. The panelists were Aino, a Specialist in honour related violence at Sopu Varsinais-Suomi, Deborah Di Francesco, a Psychologist and Expert in social theatre from Italy and Rana Husseini, Author, Activist and Senior Reporter from Jordan.
It was a pleasure to have Rana Husseini visit Finland after many years since her previous visit. She is the author of “Years of Struggle – The Women’s Movement in Jordan (2021) and “Murder in the Name of Honor (2009)”, a human rights activist and senior journalist writing for The Jordan Times. Husseini has focused on social issues for over 25 years with a special emphasis on violence against women, as well as the brutal crimes that are committed against Jordanian women in the name of family honor.
We also heard a video presentation from Luciana Esposito on honour related violence in the Mafia system. Luciana is a Journalist from Napoli city. In 2014 she founded Napolitan.it, a perennial observatory on Camorra (mafia) dynamics in the eastern suburbs of Napoli. Despite the continuous and constant threats from the underworld clans, her work has never stopped.
Thank you to our project partners for the cooperation in the project and in organizing this seminar! Our partners are Setlementtiliitto / Finland, Shannara Cooperative Sociale / Italy and Arab Women Media Center / Jordan.
The Pro Youth -project (2021-2023) is a strategic partnership project of Erasmus+ program, in which three partner countries are cooperating: Finland, Italy and Jordan. The Pro Youth -project develops working methods to support young people who are experiencing honor related violence or the threat of it. The target groups are the professionals and authorities working with the youth as well as the youth itself. The methods are developed for the use of professionals working with the youth, such as social workers, youth workers and the police. In addition, the project is creating a tool for the youth to find help and support easier than before, when they are facing honor-related conflict or violence.