Exhibition element informing about forced marriage: “It should have been the most beautiful day of my life.”

From 25 November to 11 December, “Welcome at Home” was shown in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. This project was initiated and led by the Zonta Club of Schaffhausen and actively supported by the local police and more than 15 local agencies dealing with domestic violence.

The exhibit and the symposium got a lot of media presence and thus helped to create the public pressure necessary to get politicians moving. In the meantime, the regional parliament has approved to create a body to take charge of implementing the Istanbul Convention in the region.

The target group of the exhibit itself was young adults. Approximately 800 vocational school students were led through the exhibition by a team consisting of a teacher, a policeman and a social worker. The goal was to inform them about the causes, backgrounds and toxic consequences of domestic violence and also about the support services for victims in the region.