Activities:

• Family session handout
• Exercise: family challenges and strategies
• Exercise on violence in couples

Session objective:

• to allow participants to explore challenges they face in protecting their families, and to develop strategies for addressing these challenges
• to support participants to explore challenges they face in protecting themselves from their families, and to develop strategies for addressing these challenges

Required materials:

Family session handout, 'Family challenges and strategies' exercise, 'Violence in couples' exercise.

Key explanation points:

• The family session can be used with participants to explore challenges that human rights defenders often consider as ‘private’, specifically threats to their family – and threats by members of their family.
• While both types of challenges frequently are difficult to discuss, violence against women human rights defenders and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) defenders within their family (such as partners, in-laws, siblings and parents) is particularly sensitive and should be facilitated with care.
• This module is best used on Day Two in the morning.

Facilitation notes:

The first two exercises in the session are excellent for all participants. The third exercise, on violence in couples, should be used for groups that require a process to go deeper in exploring and identifying violence within their relationships.