In December 2024, classes for girls were held at a school in Osiecznica. The “Doomed to Success with ‘WenDo’ – Lower Silesia 2024” workshops were led by lawyer and criminologist Daniel Gotthardt and psychologist Anna Figiel.
Why were the meetings held at the school in Osiecznica?
It was all thanks to the school principal’s openness and progressive approach, Urszula Jasińska. These free, valuable workshops were also offered to all secondary schools in Bolesławiec, but their principals showed no interest in them.
During the workshops, the students practiced social skills that improve communication and help them respond to difficult situations. The sessions also included interpersonal and problem-solving skills training, which positively affects personal, family and professional relationships, as well as assertiveness training, which strengthens the ability to set healthy boundaries. The classes presented information related to preventing threats, improving personal safety in public and private places, and ways of counteracting domestic violence, victimization (blaming the victim – ed.) and secondary victimization.
Stalking, cyberviolence, victimology, the Polish Victims’ Rights Charter, institutions and organizations providing assistance to crime victims
The girls received a substantial amount of socio-legal knowledge about stalking: debunking myths and confirming facts; cyberviolence: how to respond to and counteract cyberviolence; the basics of victimology: a concise profile of crime victims; the Polish Victims’ Rights Charter; information about institutions and organizations providing assistance to crime victims; and technical prevention.
It was new for the young women to learn that they could independently make decisions concerning their own image and human rights, take effective action under stress, communicate effectively, consistently and assertively, and respond to boundary violations, discrimination and violence in the offline and online worlds. The participants also learned how to recognize, assess and respond when boundaries are crossed.
Breathing exercises using the WenDo method, voice-use training using the WenDo method, physical self-defense training using the WenDo method
The participants underwent training in using their voices and shouting. Methods of calling for help were presented, and each participant practiced ways of calling for help depending on the threat and whether she was in an enclosed place or an open space. During this training, they were shown how to use a personal alarm producing a 130 dB alert signal. Each participant had the opportunity to install the device herself and practice activating it in an emergency.
WenDo workshops, meaning “The Way of Women”
The name, like the workshops themselves, was based on women’s experiences and the sociocultural context in which women live. The situations discussed in the classes were directly connected with women’s real-life experiences involving violations of their boundaries—both physical and psychological. Emphasis was placed on strengthening the participants’ self-confidence, self-esteem and sense of agency.
The “Doomed to Success with ‘WenDo’ – Lower Silesia 2024” workshop project was financed from the budget of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship and implemented by Fundacja Moderna.
