ABD hosts the second Transnational Project Meeting of the European project FREE-DVV in Madrid

On 14 and 15 October, the partners of FREE-DVV met in Madrid to review the pilot testing of the project’s materials and plan the next steps in the development of the guidebook, the workbook and the online course.

ABD hosted the second in-person meeting of the partners of FREE-DVV – Financial Resources and Education to Empower Domestic Violence Victims in Madrid, at the co-working venue Espacio LuzVallekas. The project aims to tackle economic violence against women by promoting financial education and independence, strengthening the skills of professionals who support survivors and pushing for a more comprehensive policy response. Over two days, partner organisations reviewed the work done since the project started in September 2025 and to agreed on the next phases.

First day: guidebook results and workbook testing

The meeting opened with a welcome by the University of Tartu, which presented the management plan, the project timeline and the current state of the work. ABD, which leads the work package on the guidebook for specialists who work with victims of economic violence, then presented the results of its pilot testing, carried out with 120 professionals from the partner countries.

Professionals said they feel more confident after the training. The improvement was greater in supporting survivors’ financial recovery than in identifying economic violence, which is also the area where they started from the lowest level. The guidebook was recognised as relevant, practical and applicable in all countries, and the participants most valued its assessment tools: the Indicator Framework, the Economic Abuse Barometer, the Guided Interview, the Timeline and Financial Mapping, and the case studies and examples. Many professionals also expressed interest in using these tools in their daily work and in continuing their training, as they see training on economic violence as an ongoing process rather than a one-off event.

MIGS then presented the workbook for survivors of domestic violence, an online tool that offers financial knowledge, legal information and practical strategies to move towards economic independence. Partners were able to check the tool and identify weak points in the design and improve them before the workbook is tested with women survivors.

Second day: the online course and capacity building

The second day began with a new session on the online course (MOOC) for specialists on economic violence and empowerment. The partners also discussed how to make it useful for professionals from different fields and available in the languages of the consortium.

Una Casa per l’Uomo then presented the work ahead that includes the advocacy events that each partner will organise in its territory and the policy recommendations report on economic violence.

The partners valued the opportunity to meet in person, which made it easier to align approaches, clarify open questions and strengthen the upcoming results until they meet again in Italy next September 2027.

About FREE-DVV

It is coordinated by the University of Tartu  with partner organisations ANAIS (RO), Una Casa per l’Uomo (IT), Asociación Bienestar y Desarrollo – Grupo ABD (ES) and the Mediterranean Institute Gender Studies (MIGS) (CI)

FREE-DVV is funded by the Erasmus+ KA220-ADU Call of the European Comission.