Court monitor volunteer training

Currently we have one available volunteer training, which recruits and trains volunteers for a specific project: court monitoring.

What is the task of Patent’s court monitor volunteers?

They sit in on trials and observe how jurisdiction treats victims of domestic violence cases.

The history of American women’s rights movements well illustrates that the court monitoring method is capable of enforcing the rights of women and children during the process of divorce in hostile jurisdiction environments. Relationship violence is a subject that law enforcement is generally not prepared to handle: this area is most typically subject to prejudices, belittling and blaming the victim. In 2013-2014, PATENT Association was the first in Hungary to realize a program for the civil (non-professional) monitoring of court proceedings – civil contentious and non-contentious as well as criminal. From spring 2015 until early 2016, we can continue an extended version of this program (again with the help of the Norwegian NGO Fund).

Anyone over 18 can volunteer as court monitor, if they feel committed to the protection of women’s and children’s rights.

---

A report by one of our volunteers about the 2015 training in Szeged:

“A good friend of mine informed me about the court monitoring program in the last minute. As I’m a law student, I’m at home in the world of jurisdiction, and this call instantly raised my attention. The training expanded my knowledge with a vast amount of information that I had never heard before. The two-day training in Szeged took place at the Youth House. There were five of us volunteers. The program’s volunteer coordinator was very kind and genial from the start, and the trainers – lawyers working at the PATENT Association’s legal aid service – shared their professional knowledge and experiences with us. The training was interactive, so everyone could share their opinion and experiences through various games and exercises. My fellow monitors were very nice and I especially liked the fact that we could open up so much in front of each other in just two days. I feel that we became a very good group in such short time. During the training, we learned about things like how abusers behave, what psychological traumas victims undergo, what PTSD is and how it can be treated, and what the “planet theory” is. These two days were very useful for me and I heartfully recommend it to everyone, as the knowledge acquired here can only be an advantage, especially in the following year, when it can be implemented in real life.”

Kata Dudás, Szeged

Power to Change group

In the fall of 2014, our Association launched a self-help group for relationship violence survivors. The group leaders are fellow workers of the association’s legal aid service. The self-awareness work conducted in the group is directed specifically at helping women who have undergone relationship violence in recognizing the system of relationship violence and to learn new methods and receive alternatives to the reality of their previous relationship. Our service is free of charge. Admittance is invitation-based, as the group is organized for the Association’s clients. You can inquire about membership at info@patent.org.hu. Our group work is largely facilitated by the Power to Change handbook.

---

Group for women who were subjected to sexual assault

Between October 2012 and July 2013

The main goal of the self-help group therapy for women who were subjected to sexual assault was to mitigate the isolation of sexual assault survivors by helping them form relationships with other survivors. The workgroup was built on active participation, without a predefined agenda, making it possible to deal with personal topics brought up by the members. Group meetings took place once every month for three hours, led by one of the Association’s psychologists.

Our Association regularly organizes conferences and workshops for experts and non-professionals alike.