Amor, Medo e Poder

The International Symposium "From dating violence to femicide: experiences and reflections between Brazil and Portugal" was held on May 21, 2024, at 5pm, in a hybrid format (face-to-face and online) at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto (FPCEUP).

Opening the event, Professor Maria José Magalhães (FPCEUP) highlighted the importance of understanding the concept of violence. Domestic violence was presented as a social and historically constructed mechanism in social relations, especially in power relations that subordinate and inferiorize women.

Giordana Fontes then presented her doctoral research carried out in the Postgraduate Program in Clinical Psychology and Culture at the University of Brasilia under a co-tutorship with FPCEUP. According to the researcher, studies in the area indicate high incidence and prevalence rates among adolescents and young people - of up to 80 to 90%, both in terms of victimization (when someone suffers violence) and perpetration (when someone commits some form of violence). What's more, this serious social problem can also be a prelude to later violence in marital relationships and even femicide.

Amanda Rangel, a doctoral student in the Applied Social Sciences Program at the State University of Ponta Grossa, on a doctoral internship at FPCEUP, presented the main legal guidelines on violence against women and the reasons for it. In this context, Law No. 11.340 (Brazil, 2006) and Law No. 13.104 (Brazil, 2015), known respectively as the Maria da Penha Law and the Feminicide Law, were highlighted.
Professor Tatiana Machiavelli Carmo Souza, a lecturer at the Federal University of Catalão (UFCAT) and a postdoctoral fellow at FPCEUP, discussed the concepts of femicide/attempted and consummated femicide and problematized the constitution of the network for preventing, caring for and dealing with violence against women in the Brazilian and Portuguese contexts.

Finally, Professor Susana Coimbra (FPCEUP), summarizing the discussions, stressed that violence against women is a complex and multidetermined phenomenon. From dating violence to femicide/feminicide, it causes serious damage and suffering to those involved. Building strategies from primary prevention of dating violence to dealing with attempted femicide is an important task for the professionals who make up the care and protection network.

These posters were created as part of the Curricular Unit "Violence in Contemporaneity" of the Education, Gender, Body and Violence domain, which corresponds to the 1st year of the Master's in Education Sciences. They were created by students following a presentation on femicide in Portugal and Brazil, based on the text "A transversalidade dos crimes de femicídio/feminicídio no Brasil e em Portugal" (The transversality of femicide/feminicide crimes in Brazil and Portugal) by Lourdes Maria Bandeira and Maria José Magalhães.

The main objective behind the creation of these posters was to pay tribute to the victims of femicide and gender violence - with an emphasis on Marielle Franco. Marielle became one of the leading figures in the feminist movement - especially in the Portuguese-Brazilian context - after being a victim of femicide. Likewise, the content of the posters seeks to promote deep critical reflection on this atrocious crime that deeply affects society.

Thus, the exhibition of these posters was intended as a reminder of the reality of many women who are subjected to acts of extreme violence on a daily basis and who have no way of escaping it - they deserve to be heard and, above all, to see justice work in favour of their safety and well-being.

Finally, the posters were designed not just as visual artefacts, but rather as educational and awareness-raising tools for this problem. They were structured in such a way as to arouse emotions, spark constructive discussions and inspire actions that contribute to the eradication of femicide and the promotion of a fairer, more equal society for all genders, in which violence against women is neither silenced nor normalised.

With the 25th of November - International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women - approaching, we must take a stand in struggle and mourning for all the victims of gender violence, especially those who are no longer with us.

Posters by Ailine Graça, Ana Silva, Ana Pereira, Francisca Weiner, Hiago Cardoso, Indalécio Paiva, Janaína Fernandes, Lara Gonçalves, Luiza Amorim, Júlia Fonte, Marta Neves, Natália Juranová, Rute Pinto, Suzanny Souza and Veronica Carocha.

The FEM-United Project developed its final conference on the 16th of November 2022.

This conference, entitled "Femicide can be prevented: Connect the Dots", took place in the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto.

In this conference were reflected the current practices and improvements that should be implemented for the prevention of femicide.
The event had the following program:

09h30 - 10h0 0: Opening Table
10h00 - 11h00: Femicide in Portugal and Europe - Echoes from the FEM-UnitED project
11h-00 - 11h30: Presentation of preliminary data on femicide in 2022 (WCO-UMAR)
11h-30 - 11h45: Coffee break
11h45 - 12h45: Preventing femicide: the importance of multidisciplinary work
12h45 - 13h00: Closing table

The first edition of the Education, Gender and Prevention (EGP) conference will take place on 24th and 25th of March, 2022, having as host institution the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of Oporto University.

This Conference intends to create a new space for reflection on Gender power relations and the Prevention of Violence in the field of Education. Having as theme, for this its first edition: Gender-based violence primary prevention: approaches, contexts, and impact on people’s lives.

Thus, the 1st edition of the EGP conference is addressed to researchers, academics, students, professionals and decision and policymakers from different countries, in order to share and deepen the knowledge and experiences on a variety of topics related to gender-based violence. Aiming to strengthen the bonds between research, prevention and intervention in gender-based violence in Education, by focusing on scientific dissemination as a driver for social and political change.

The organization of this conference is a collaboration between the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto - Centre for Research and Intervention in Education (FPCEUP-CIIE), the Institute of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Lisbon - Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies (ISCSP-UL - CIEG); and the Alternative and Response Women’s Association (UMAR).

Hence, the EGP aims at the following objectives:

•    Contribute to the scientific development of gender-based violence prevention in Education, at national and international levels;
•    Share and disseminate the results of both research and intervention practices in different countries;
•    Promote scientific and evidence-based recommendations for gender-based violence prevention policies;
•    Encourage good practices through facilitating network creation and access to resources among participants of different areas of knowledge and expertise;
•    Extend research and practice networks in the prevention and combat of gender-based violence;
•    Develop and share research methods and tools/strategies;
•    Raise the general public’s awareness of the importance of the prevention of gender-based violence.

Gender violence, including domestic violence, intimate partner violence, same sex couple violence, sexual harassment, rape, stalking and sexual abuse, has been occupying a central role in international and national public political agenda, pressing for social and legal policies.
In the sequence of activism and research of feminist and women’s movements, there is, today, a clear idea of the responsibility of the State in assuring the protection, security and compensation of the victims, as well as the accountability of the perpetrators.

In this field, education plays a crucial role in prevention, either primary, secondary or tertiary.

This site intends to account for the research and intervention that is been carried out in the Center of Research and Intervention in Education of the Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education of the University of Porto, including the international Projects CEINAV — “Cultural Encounters in Interventions Against Violence”, funded by HERA — and the COST “Femicide Across Europe”, as well as the Project “Love, Fear and Power: Pathways to a non-violent life”.

This seminar aims to present a project co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020)REC-RDAP-GBV-AG-2018/856613 of the European Union, the Athena Begin Project, which aims to create resources and tools for the protection against domestic violence and gender-based violence of people with intellectual disabilities and empower these people by promoting their quality of life and developing knowledge and skills.

Despite the unprecedented conditions imposed by the pandemic, it was possible within the scope of this project and in the three participating countries - Portugal, Spain and Greece - to train hundreds of professionals working in the field of gender-based violence and/or intellectual disability, as well as to run workshops targeted at people with disabilities themselves and their formal and informal caregivers in 2021.

In this meeting, besides the presentation of the State of the Art, Analysis of Professionals' Needs, Training and Workshops of the Project, a round table will be dynamised with actors in the field of Social Justice, Violence Prevention and Support to People with Intellectual Disability.

International Conference on Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence: victims, perpetrators and bystanders

FPCEUP - Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto, UMAR - Women's Association Alternative and Response and Bystanders' Project - Developing bystanders' responses to sexual harassment among young people are pleased to invite you to the International Conference on Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence: victims, perpetrators and bystanders which will be held on the 8th and 9th October 2018 at the FPCEUP, Porto, Portugal.

Following the success of the I European Conference on Domestic Violence, held in Belfast in 2015, the II European Conference on Domestic Violence will be held from 6th to 9th September 2017 at FPCEUP - Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto, in Porto, Portugal.