We Gathered to Share the Male Participation Workshop Series for the Empowerment of Women

We Gathered to Share the Male Participation Workshop Series for the Empowerment of Women

Male Participation Workshop Series for the Empowerment of Women, which has been developed for the empowerment of women and the prevention of violence against women, with the support of men, has accomplished yet another goal.

As the end of the year was approaching, we wanted to come together with the participants who have enabled the implementation of this workshop series, the team which has processed the workshop step by step, and everybody who has helped during the development process of the workshop series. In a meeting in which our friends from the general public and national and international institutions were present, we intended to share with which perspective and sensitivity this workshop series that has been informative for all of us, was developed.

In the meeting that took place in the evening of December 24^th, Tuesday at Taksim Point Hotel, the priority was to be able to hear the feedback of the participants of the Male Participation Workshop Series for the Empowerment of Women, and also the feedback of their wives. We found the opportunity to listen to the participants who were in the meeting and also the ones who could not make it, through video. It was a very encouraging and unifying experience.

We would like to share some quotes from the participants:

“We have developed nice friendships in the meetings. We were discussing the things we had learned until we understood everything perfectly.”

“It is great that I have learned these while I am still single. When I get married in the future, I know how to support my wife and children.”

“Thanks to this workshop, we came together as people who would not come together in Syria, when one of us had a problem we all took care of that person.”

“If a man treats a woman well, if he talks to her kindly, the woman will improve. If the woman improves, the whole family improves and become empowered.”

“When we came to Turkey we were in a very bad situation psychologically, Mavi Kalem was there for us in happiness and sadness.”

Apart from the feedback, topics below were discussed during the meeting:

• Why is male participation necessary for the empowerment of women?
• The general approach of the Male Participation Workshop Series for the Empowerment of Women
• How were the participants involved in the content development process?
• The general framework of the workshops, the difficulties we encountered and what we learned

As 2019 was ending, it was a great experience to share what has been done for over a year and this work that is very valuable to Mavi Kalem.

Besides, this meeting elucidated what the Male Participation Workshop Series for the Empowerment of Women wants to accomplish in 2020.

We are greeting a new year in which the workshops will be applied by Mavi Kalem and other organizations more extensively to reach more people and a new year in which we will come together again and become more empowered…