SEE4WomenS emerges as a program of cooperation to provide knowledge on finance and entrepreneurship. This knowledge is aimed at building the confidence of the Bale Istri community, especially those who are survivors of Domestic Violence (KDRT), to be able to live more independently and have the confidence to start, run and develop an effort to empower the family economy. They believe that being able to manage the economy in their families, they are less likely to be exposed to domestic violence cases.
The Social and Economic Empowerment of Women Domestic Violence Survivors (SEE4WomenS) is one of the community service programs of Parahyangan Catholic University (Unpar) which is engaged in training courses for the community. This training program is the result of cooperation between the Coed SMED Unpar-Sapa Institute, with funding through the Alumni Grant Scheme (AGS) Australia Global Alumni, and lecturers from BMU Nusantara.
The initiator of the program is Sylvia Yazid, Ph.D., Head of the International Relations Study Program. She is one of the AGS recipients of the Australian government, managed through the Australia Awards in Indonesia. Out of the more than 200 proposals submitted, Sylvia’s proposal was one of 25 proposals that received funding from the Australian government.
The series of activities with the Sapa Institut includes the needs assessment, the creation of materials, the implementation of training for counselors (senior members of the community) and the survivors (group members who have experienced violence), Forum Group Discussion (FGD), and closed by joint evaluation. After the training is over, they try to find the best model for economic activity, followed by the creation of a social entrepreneurship.
The initial goal of this training is to create social entrepreneurship, married women of community members together to build an economic enterprise. Initially considered optimistic because they are equal members of the community that should be easier. But it is not that easy because, in reality, they build more business with their individual ability. Therefore, modification of goals by focusing on the division of the role at a later stage may achieve social entrepreneurship.
After the training was conducted for counselors and survivors, the response of all the participants was very positive. All participants claimed to have gained new knowledge that will greatly assist them in starting or developing their business. The most significant achievement of this activity is the resurgence of confidence from a number of survivors, especially in economic activities.
The reflection of this activity has been written in a scientific paper published in “Indonesian Journal for International Relations” which is a journal of the Indonesian Association of International Relations. The publication of this journal is intended to share the lessons learned from this activity to the International Relations in Indonesia.
