<< Background >>After #MeToo movement across USA and Europe, the topic of gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault becomes a hot subject in the attention not only of the public opinion, but to simple people around the world. The fact that 12 millions posts on Facebook in the first 24 hours referred to #MeToo movement and other 1,7 million messages on Tweeter from 85 different countries relied on the same topic proves that, the Hollywood phenomenon is very close with what a large number of persons are facing on the daily basis at workplace, at school, at university or in different other places.The lower numbers reported in the statistics proves that this remains a sensitive, if not a taboo topic, which can be explained by the fact that victims often feel shame, guilt, or fear of retributions. The low incidence of repercussions for abusers discourages the victims to report these cases. It is also shows a lack of knowledge and awareness among employers and victims on how they can prevent the phenomenon, change the attitude, and reduce its costs of all levels: individual, organizational, societal.Thus, the project aims to provide skills and knowledge for young people (aged 18-30) to prevent and react towards gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault and for youth workers, trainers, counselors, mentors and volunteers who work with young people to assist them in dealing with the phenomenon and to ensure a safe environment where they can discuss this sensitive topic.The project #NOT ME has two categories of target groups:a) youth workers, counselors, trainers, mentors, volunteers working with young people, representatives of employers (young employees's mentors, supervisors, leaders) b) young people enrolled in a study program or an internship program and young employees, aged between 18-30 years.<< Objectives >>The main objectives of the project are :a) To raise awareness of more than 300 young people (aged between 18-30 years) on their level of exposure to sexual harassment, on the associated risks, behaviors and on the appropriate solutions for prevention and reaction, by developing an assessment tool for measuring gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault, in 24 months of project.b) To provide youth workers, trainers, volunteers, counselors, mentors as well as youth skills, knowledge and effective tools to prevent gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault, by elaborating a full highly innovative training package including the curriculum, the training contents and the methodology, in 2 years.c) To raise awareness on sexual harassment at workplace and to equip young employees aged between 18-30 years with skills and knowledge to prevent, to change the attitude, and to react against it, by creating an online course, during 24 months.d) To raise awareness of representatives of employers (as work place mentors, internship leaders) on their responsibilities, ways of actions, and ways of supporting young people employeed to prevent sexual harassment at organizational level, by elaborating a guidelines on this topic, during 2 years of project.<< Implementation >>In order to develop the project results, the consortium refers to the latest evidence based research and educational strategies in this area. This will ensure a functional pedagogical development of the training material, especially since members of consortium have successfully developed training material for youth workers etc., and youth in other European projects.The overall guiding framework to monitor the project will be based upon a Utilization-Focused evaluation approach (Patton, 2008). The main focus of this method is that the evaluation (internal) should be made by the their utility and actual use. The evaluation process will incorporate the monitoring of performance indicators together with continuous quality improvement (CQI) throughout the project. With this background in mind, the utilization of the theory of change will also be incorporated. This methodology explains how a group of early and intermediate accomplishments sets the stage for producing long-range results (sustainability) that is a main objective of this project.The following steps will be utilized:1) Input (month 1 – 4): Assessment Algorithm for Measuring Sexual Harassment - PR12) Activity (month 5 – 13): Elaboration of the innovative youth training package``How to say no! Prevent gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault!`` - PR24) Output (month 14– 16): Elaboration and testing of the online course for the young employees ``Sexual harassment at work place`` - PR36) Output (month 17 – 20): Elaboration of the guidelines for representatives of employers ``Prevent sexual harassment at work`` - PR47) Impact (month 21 – 24): The project will have produced materials for a European training course that will equip youth workers, trainers, counselors, volunteers, representatives of employers and youth with the knowledge, skills and competences required to be aware, prevent and intervene in gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault (further details about the impact, can be found in the impact section of the application).Strategic working groups: the partners will form a youth strategic working group in their locality, that could include representatives of NGO's, youth organizations, universities, employers, trade unions, professional associations, police forces and other relevant stakeholders. Partners will work with their groups throughout the project, using them for information, feedback and evaluation. They will also be useful for project results dissemination.Strategic networks: each partner will form a strategic network, which might be regional, national or international, for the purpose of disseminating the aims and the results of the project.<< Results >>The project expected results of the project are: - an innovative assessment Algorithm for Measuring Sexual Harassment, - an innovative training package piloted internationally and tested in each partner country (innovative curriculum, attractive training contents and materials and creative and interactive methodologies for face to face training) designed to cover necessary topics and subjects for youth workers, trainers, counselors, mentors, volunteers working with young people to learn how to help and support them to prevent and to react towards gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual abuse,- attractive and innovative online course for young employees on preventing sexual harassment at work place, tested by 20 young employees from each partner country, - solid guidelines for representatives of employers on how they can prevent sexual harassment at work place and encourage young people to report it.- a short term joint staff training based on the developed curriculum, training contents and methodologies for youth workers and trainers from the 5 partner organizations.- 300 young people who will be aware on their level of exposure to sexual harassment, on the associated risks, behaviors and on the appropriate solutions for prevention and reaction, by applying an assessment tool for measuring gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault.-20 youth workers, trainers etc. participant to the train the trainer ``How to say no! Prevent gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault!``- 150 young people from all partner countries participating at local training courses on the prevention of gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual abuse, in 10 groups of 15 people.-100 young professionals in the 5 countries attendant of the online course for the young employees ``Sexual harassment at work place``;- 50 representatives of employers that will study the guidelines for sexual harassment prevention in the 5 partner countries;- 380 participants to the 5 sexual harassment prevention workshops in the partner countries.The project ``Say NO to gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault!`` will provide improved knowledge and skills, as well as new adopted strategies and attitudes of young people to prevent gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual abuse in their lives in different contexts, well equipped youth workers and trainers with competencies, skills and knowledge on how to assist and support young people in their process of preventing prevent gender based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual abuse, - well informed employers on sexual harassment at work place and appropriate actions that they can take to prevent and to reduce all its costs.The project results are highly innovative, actual, easily transferable to youth, youth workers and employers all over Europe.

<< Background >>According to the EU Commission's 2020-2025 Gender Equality Strategy, Gender-based violence – or violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately – remains one of our societies’ biggest challenges and is deeply rooted in gender inequality. An emerging form of violence is cyber violence which is especially prevalent due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Cyber violence is a gender-based issue, as it affects women disproportionately (European Institute for Gender Equality, 2017). In the European Union, 1 in 10 women reports having experienced cyber violence since the age of 15 as reported in Fundamental Rights’ Agency (FRA) 2014 survey. Responses, however, have yet to fully address the many degrees and impact of violence, trauma and loss that women and girls are routinely exposed to due to cyber violence and that go unreported (UN Women, 2015). Cyber violence is not a separate phenomenon, but rather a continuum of offline violence (EIGE, 2017). Studies have shown that survivors of online sexual violence suffer from a number of mental health issues following their assault. They have trouble trusting, show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and suffer from anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. These findings reveal the seriousness of online sexual violence, as well as the similarities between sexual assault and online sexual violence (Bates, 2016). The project will have two main target groups. The first target group includes youth in the 18-29 age group, as younger women are more active on the internet and therefore more exposed to cyber harassment, with that particular age group being the highest risk one (FRA, 2014). It will offer trainings in order for the victims to be able to protect themselves effectively online, strengthen the awareness and capacity of women advocates, educators, and Internet users to identify and report violence facilitated online and by other forms of ICTs, as well as provide tips, tools and resources on how to identify, document and report on-line harassment and other forms of ICT facilitated violence against women and girls. A best practices mapping will also contribute through that goal.The second target group includes the youth workers and professionals of victim support and social care services, through the creation of a training curriculum of which will be able to utilize the training material and the methodology created through the project in order to be able to recognize, effectively support and guide the victims to legal services if needed. Consequently, those services will be able to provide adequate support to the youth that need it. While the material will be tailored for the specific target groups, it will be open and available to everyone, and through its utilization by professionals it will also have a multiplier effect. In addition, the volunteers of these services will also be able to benefit from the project’s results. According to the European Commission’s Victims’ Rights Support Strategy, the victims support services importance is recognized, as it is one of the Key Actions of the Strategy to declare them as essential<< Objectives >>The project has the following concrete objectives:1. To contribute to the prevention, recognition and early intervention against Cyber GBV2. Raise the capacity of youth workers and victim support services to be able to respond to the specific needs of victims of cyber GBV, through an innovative and transferrable training curriculum3. To enhance the digital skills of the target groups in order to be able to protect themselves online, as well as empower them to seek assistance and take other action to break the cycle of online and offline violence4. To raise awareness on the phenomenon5. Engage professionals of different countries in combating cyber GBV6. To provide knowledge of best practices and effective actions implemented on preventing and providing support for Cyber Gender-Based Violence7. Contribute to a more inclusive cyberspace<< Implementation >>The project will lead to the creation of:1. An Online Hub against cyber GBV2. Best practices mapping on an EU level3. Digital Handbook on cyber GBV for youth4. A Training Curriculum for Victim Support Services and Youth Workers5. A Self Evaluation in the form of an interactive quiz6. A Final Research PaperIn addition, 4 transnational meetings are going to be held, with 2 of them taking place in person and 2 of them online. 3 Multiplier Events will take place in Bulgaria, Cyprus and Greece in order to share the projects results and contribtute in raising awareness on the phenomenon.<< Results >>Upon the completion of the 23 month project the participants of both target groups are going to be able to:•Have accurate knowledge of cyber GBV: definition, detection, prevention & intervention, through the training curriculum and the handbook designed.•Develop their digital skills in order to be able to protect themselves and their identities online•Recognize abusive behaviors they are being subject to•Be aware which instances of online harassment constitute a crime, how to report it and where they can seek assistance•Self-evaluate their online competences, through the online evaluation system hosted on the platform•Be aware of best practices in the field of cyber GBV, by utilizing the mapping that will be completed during the project•Recognize the real-life ramifications and implications that cyber GBV causes.Specific outcomes for the professionals of victim support services and youth workers:•Capacity to provide adequate and targeted support to victims of cyber GBV•Ability to recognize whether women that come in contact with them are also victims of cyber GBV apart from offline violence•Ability to respond appropriately to cyber violence in intimate relationships – differentiate between cyber violence by unknowns•Be able to guide victims through the necessary (legal) steps.•Increased motivation for professional training and skills development•Better teamwork among professionals•Awareness of best practices and ability to adopt those deemed appropriate in their own work.In addition, the final research paper that will provide data on the effectiveness of the project’s interventions. Through the involvement of the victim support services, the project will be able to gather bodies of data that include the profiles of perpetrators, their relationship with the victim, the means of perpetrations, the number of reported cases, which will be able to inform future projects, research and policy making.The project’s outcomes will also expand beyond the direct target groups by increasing awareness of the phenomenon in local communities and stakeholders. In addition to the intellectual outputs, the project will hold an awareness campaign that will take place online and inform the wider audience about the forms cyber gender-based violence can take, with a special focus on the perpetrators and those that manifest abusive behaviors online, which often happens due to insufficient The aforementioned outcomes are directly connected to the concrete objectives of the project going to be achieved through the creation of an innovative training curriculum for the professionals of victim support services and youth workers, an online handbook for the general population and the online platform which will host the material as well as the self evaluation quiz.Furthermore, the accessible online platform, in combination with the dissemination activities will contribute to cyber GBV brought into the public debate.

Students enrolled in higher education systems, volunteers, interns (internship participants) and young professionals at the beginning of their career (first two years of job experience) often claim their need for programmes and guidance to create the link between theory and practical work skills and competences, regardless of their nationality or area of work. However, young professionals declare and feel a stringent need to share ideas related to their working experiences, to receive practical guidance, to discuss their professional dilemmas with experienced professionals, as well as to get close supervision from them. The project approaches the mentorship as a relationship between an experienced professional who provides a role model, guidance and support for learners who make a career transition (in our case: insertion at a workplace or in a professional practice programme) for their professional induction and adjustment to organizational and work requirements. Professional peer-coaching is a process of mutual support and constructive criticism between two or more learners to acquire new skills and knowledge, representing a very effective form of collaborative learning at work. Online MENTOR project addressed firstly youth trainers, teachers, practice mentors, youth workers and secondly youth over 18 in the process of becoming a professional or at the beginning of their career, students, volunteers, internship participants. The project was carried out transnationally with the participation of the partner organizations from 5 countries (RO, CZ, BG, SI, LT) to enforce the quality of the results and the exchange of best practices, as well as to foster the positive impact of the project at European level. The specific objectives of Online MENTOR were: a) to strengthen the connection between theoretical knowledge and practice in training, by producing curricula, contents and ICT materials and developing a flexible, widely usable and creative blended-learning training methodology designed for career guidance and for training mentors among young people over 18, at the beginning of their career; b)to create a network of specialized trainers on mentorship and provide training to trainers, teachers, volunteer and internship participants supervisors for young trainees; c) to develop professional competences and entrepreneurial skills of learners and young professionals through elaboration and dissemination of the professional peer coaching guidelines, but also through aspects related to entrepreneurship introduced in learning material; d) to enhance tolerance, equality, gender balance, and social cohesion through best practice collection for gender balance and non-discrimination in career guidance. The project activities resulted in elaborating: an innovative curricula on mentorship and career guidance designed to meet the EU requirements for transparency and recognition of skills, interactive and validated ICT and face to face materials for the on-line blended-learning mentorship and career guidance skills training course, an online platform for the blended-learning mentorship and career guidance skills training and piloted training course, guidelines for professional peer-coaching and a collection of best practices for gender balance and non-discrimination in career guidance. A network of 23 multi-professional mentors was created contributing thus to the international and local piloting of the blended-learning mentorship and career guidance training. 266 young people were trained in the 5 partner countries. Guidelines in professional peer-coaching and best practice in gender balance and non-discrimination in career guidance were e highly disseminated among the target groups. 5 ONLINE MENTOR dissemination workshops were organized in each partner country with 282 participants in order to raise awareness on the benefits of mentoring and coaching for target groups, training providers, employers, authorities, such as efficiency at the work place, fewer mistakes on the job, cutting losses to the employer, client satisfaction, loyalty to the company, job satisfaction. The project had an important impact on the mentorship and career guidance competences of the youth workers, teachers, trainers, mentors and young people in the 5 countries and at European level, on the awareness level of stakeholders concerning the benefits of introducing innovative ICT standardized mentorship training program at international level in the initial and continuous professional development of teachers, trainers and mentors in schools and work-based settings. The impact of overall project dissemination results is estimated at 23000 persons in the 5 countries.