General counselling in the Drop-in Centre

Women and their children asking for a place in a shelter are in a situation of emergency and threat. When a woman asks for help, if possible, we will instantly have an interview with her to check the details of admission to our house. If the woman shows up at night or on a weekend, the interview will be held the following week day. In this talk, the victim's mental condition, her situation and the state of threat will be discussed.
To stabilize abused women we offer:

• crisis intervention
• help without formalities
• individual counselling (assessing their economic situation and legal status, support for contacting the authorities, help in tackling the experiences of violence and developing new perspecitves for their lives)
• specific measures of intervention (f.i. placing of children in an extra accomodation)
• legal advice
• accompanying service to authorities
• legal support in custody proceedings
• group activities like the presentation of information on various topics, recreational activities and holiday celebrations
• Facilitating activities among the residents (by promoting house meetings, emotional and practical help for the newcomers, mutual support in child care in cases when the mothers are busy etc.)
• Making referrals that meet the victims' needs for counseling and other services.

Specific counselling for immigrant women

• Crisis intervention and counselling in various languages offered by culturally specialized staff members who in case of need will be assisted by interpreters
• House meetings and group work assisted by interpreters
• Legal advice supported by lawyers with the skills and knowledge necessary to represent abused women in family law and immigration actions.
• Accompanying to authorities and providers of social services
• Counselling and support for those immigrant women who wish to return to their home countries or intend to migrate to third countries
• Support in case of deportation (information on opportunities in the country of origin, referral to hardship commission, to committee on appeals, to shelters and social services worldwide)
• We facilitate the development of strategies which should enable women to tackle the experience of racism and to present their issues at authorities. We encourage women to support each other.
• We assist women to navigate the various city areas (how to use the system of public transport, how to behave in dangerous situation, how to contact the authorities etc.)
• We continously work on the construction of a local network providing exchange of information and support for immigrant women and their children. The involved experts and institutions are: female doctors, therapists, interpreters, and lawyers, providers of vocational trainings, refugee support groups, Commissioners for Foreigners' Affairs, Foreignors'Advisory Boards, drop-in services for immigrant women, shelters, sheltered housing projects, the shelter coordination office and NGOs like Terre de femmes and KOK, Asyl in der Kirche (Refuge in churches)
• Creation of a job-pool (referrals to employers)
• Referrals to language classes