Eva Michálková

2/28/2019

Break the Silence Conference

On 22nd of February we organized the conference tackling the issue of sexual violence.

Sexual violence is still a taboo subject in the Czech Republic accompanied by a number of myths and many unrealistic ideas. On 22.2.19, we held “Break the Silence” at the Charles University Law School. The aim of Break the Silence was to positively influence the conditions of victims of sexual violence in the Czech Republic and to raise awareness of this topic. We organized a conference on sexual violence with judges, lawyers, and other sexual violence experts, followed by a practical mini-moot court workshop. The case discussed at the moot court will be based on a real proFem case. The conference and workshop were primarily intended for students of law schools, police academies, social work, etc., as future professionals of the so-called first contacts with victims of sexual violence. We are convinced that these students in the field are representative of the key potential for changing the discourse of working with victims of sexual violence, sexual offenses, and forensic or judicial-expert issues.

The conference was a part of the Break the Silence Project, financially supported by the Embassy of the United States in Prague.