From February 2023 to February 2026, the IKF – together with partners from Austria and four other European countries (Germany, Italy, Greece, and Sweden) – worked on the VIPROM project. The aim of this three-year project, funded by the EU (CERV 2022), was to improve support for victims of domestic violence in the medical field. To this end, curricula and training materials were developed for physicians of various specializations, nurses, midwives, and medical students. The comprehensive training platform, developed as the basis for the training and adapted for all national contexts, conveys not only fundamental knowledge about domestic violence but also, and perhaps more importantly, concrete strategies for recognizing domestic violence, approaching victims, and professional good practices, such as the legally sound documentation of injuries. The IKF's central task within the project was the evaluation of the materials and the training.
The first year of the project focused on needs assessment through interviews and focus groups with medical professionals and the development of the training materials. Additional case studies in Germany, Sweden, and Austria analysed organizational conditions for the sustainable implementation of programs to support victims of domestic violence in the medical field. In Austria, VICESSE and IKF examined the existing victim support groups (OSG) at hospitals.
In June 2024, IKF presented its first report evaluating the developed materials through focus groups with experts in all partner countries. Subsequently, evaluation instruments for the trainings themselves (feedback forms for trainers, participant surveys, and observation protocols) were developed and used to support the implementation of the trainings in all countries. The evaluation results showed clear positive effects of the trainings in terms of participant satisfaction, learning outcomes, and the sustainable integration of the trainings into daily work. The high degree of methodological and didactic diversity in the trainings, the focus on positive courses of action, and the creation of a safer space that allowed participants to address even difficult topics and uncertainties proved particularly important for this success. All results are published in a deliverable and available online.
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