Events

March 2007

Embassy Staff Continues Community Outreach, Ljubljana, March 15, 2007

Embassy staff and family members recently visited the Ljubljana's women's shelter to chat with residents and make a donation of necessary kitchen supplies.
The shelter is currently home to seven women and thirteen children where they may remain for up to one year. During this time they receive assistance in locating jobs and housing in addition to professional counseling as they work to build a new life.  Children are the center of activity in the home and everything possible is done to give them a normal home life.  They remain enrolled in their original schools and are allowed supervised visits with their fathers.  The shelter in Ljubljana continuously operates at full capacity and due to the volume of applications, 2/3 must be turned away to find assistance elsewhere, sometimes in another city.  

There are three shelters in Ljubljana run by the Ministry of Labor, Family and Social Affairs.   The other two shelters operate out of the public eye as "safe houses" for its residents and could not be visited.
According to social workers at the shelter approximately 25% of Slovene women suffer from physical or psychological abuse.  Most victims of abuse return to their abusive partner an average of seven times before they are ready to end the relationship.   Happily the embassy's relationship with the shelter began in December 2006 courtesy of the Marines' Toys for Tots program and we hope it will strengthen as time passes.

Shelter Director Milena Peršin explains the programs available to residents.  PD Assistant Teja Piškur chats with one of the children.

Shelter social workers discuss the high numbers of abuse cases in Slovene. As word of shelters and other programs spread, domestic violence becomes more commonly reported.

Shelter Director Milena Peršin, PAO Assistant Teja Piškur, Social Worker, Office of Defense Cooperation's Maggie Redding, HR Assistant Klavdija Cesar, Management Assistant Marjeta Koren and Management Officer Will Steuer chat with residents.