Call: CERV-2026-DAPHNE-PREVENTION (Priority 3 – Targeted actions for the prevention of gender-based violence)
Topic: CERV-2026-DAPHNE-PREVENTION
Duration: 24 months
Requested EU Contribution: 200/600k (90% of the budget EU-funded)
Geographic Scope: EU + Albania
Needed expertise: GBV and digital rights, education, legal + PUBLIC AUTHORITY
Summary
The project addresses the prevention of cyber violence against women and girls, including technology-facilitated gender-based violence, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, online harassment, sexualised abuse, threats, and AI-enabled abuse such as deepfakes.
Rather than focusing primarily on reactive mechanisms or regulatory enforcement, the project will strengthen local prevention capacity and promote positive social norms among men and boys. It will establish local working groups bringing together Bar Associations, the Postal Police or other police units responsible for cyberviolence, local health authorities, education and youth stakeholders, and relevant civil society organisations.
These local working groups will jointly define the methodology and implementation approach for WP3, that will deliver recurring experiential workshops in secondary schools, universities, gyms, and sports clubs. The workshops will address non-violent masculinity, anger management, respect in relationships, consent, digital responsibility, and bystander intervention.
The project will also train peer ambassadors—including students, athletes, youth workers, and potentially coaches—who will disseminate the project’s messages among their peer groups using ready-made activity kits. A poster and digital campaign will be co-created with school students and will challenge gender stereotypes, harmful social norms, and forms of online and offline violence.
The project will conclude with transnational networking and knowledge exchange among project partners and associated stakeholders.
General Objective
To contribute to the prevention of gender-based violence and cyber violence by establishing sustainable local and transnational cooperation mechanisms and implementing experiential, peer-led prevention actions that engage men and boys, challenge harmful gender stereotypes and social norms, promote consent, equality and respectful relationships, and strengthen responsible digital behaviour among young people and wider communities.
Specific Objectives
1. To strengthen local multi-agency capacity and cooperation for the prevention of gender-based violence and cyber violence, through the establishment of sustainable working groups involving legal, law-enforcement, health, education, youth, sports and civil society actors.
2. To engage men and boys in the prevention of gender-based violence and cyber violence through experiential workshops, peer-ambassador activities and student-led campaigns promoting positive and non-violent masculinities, consent, equality, respectful relationships and responsible digital behaviour.
3. To promote transnational learning, transferability and sustainability by enabling partners and stakeholders to exchange and adapt prevention methods, cooperation models, peer-led tools and youth-created communication materials across participating countries.
Draft Work Plan
WP1 – Project management and coordination
WP1 covers all activities required to manage the project efficiently and in line with EU rules. The coordinator leads this work package in close cooperation with all partners. Activities include the organisation of TPMs, the preparation and submission of narrative reports, and the continuous monitoring of progress against agreed indicators.
The work package also ensures that ethical requirements, safeguarding measures, and child-protection procedures are integrated into all project activities, particularly those involving minors in schools, sports clubs, and youth settings. Risk management is addressed through a dedicated plan that identifies potential operational, financial, reputational, and safeguarding risks and defines mitigation measures.
WP2 – Local working groups and capacity building
Objectives
• Establish local multi-agency working groups involving Bar Associations, police units responsible for cyberviolence, local health authorities, education and youth stakeholders, and civil society organisations.
• Strengthen local capacity to prevent and respond to cyber violence and gender-based violence through structured cooperation.
• Jointly define the methodology and implementation approach for WP3, ensuring that it is grounded in local realities and supported by key institutional and community actors.
WP2 shifts the focus from conventional training to the creation of sustainable local cooperation mechanisms. In each partner territory, the project will establish a local working group that brings together relevant actors: Bar Associations and legal professionals; the Postal Police or other police units responsible for cyberviolence; local health authorities and health professionals; representatives from schools, universities, gyms, sports clubs, and youth services; and civil society organisations working on gender-based violence, youth work, or digital rights.
The working groups will serve as structured spaces for dialogue, joint planning, and coordination. They will map local needs, existing services, and gaps in prevention and response. They will identify priority target groups and settings for WP3, such as specific schools, universities, sports clubs, or neighbourhoods with particular risk factors or opportunities for engagement.
WP3 – Experiential prevention with men and boys
Objectives
• Prevent gender-based violence and cyber violence by addressing harmful social norms, stereotypes, and expectations around masculinity.
• Actively involve men and boys in developing respectful, non-violent relationships and responsible digital behaviour.
• Build the capacity of peers and community members to promote positive norms through experiential workshops, peer ambassadors, and student-led campaigns.
WP3 is the core prevention component of the project. It moves beyond one-off awareness sessions to deliver recurring, experiential programmes in settings where young people and men regularly interact: secondary schools, universities, gyms, sports clubs, and youth or community spaces.
Each programme consists of a series of (…?2/3/4) workshop sessions that use interactive and participatory methods. Topics include non-violent masculinity, gender stereotypes, anger management, emotional self-regulation, respect and equality in relationships, consent and boundaries, bystander intervention, digital citizenship, and cyberviolence (including online harassment, image-based abuse, and AI-enabled abuse). The workshops prioritise active learning through role-play, scenario-based exercises, guided discussions, case studies, reflection on social norms, small-group problem-solving, and the development of local micro-campaigns.
A central element of WP3 is the peer ambassador programme. Students, athletes, youth workers, coaches, and other young leaders are trained to act as multipliers within their peer groups. Ambassadors receive preparation on the project’s core messages, positive and non-violent masculinity, respectful communication, recognising cyberviolence, safe bystander intervention, facilitation of peer discussions, safeguarding, and appropriate referral of disclosures.
The poster and digital campaign is jointly prepared with school students rather than being designed solely by adults or experts. Co-creation sessions allow students to identify language, images, and messages that resonate with their peers. They discuss stereotypes, peer pressure, online behaviour, and respectful relationships, and then develop and test slogans, visuals, and campaign concepts. Final materials are selected through a participatory process and disseminated in schools, sports clubs, gyms, youth spaces, and digital channels.
WP4 – Transnational cooperation and networking
Objectives
• Strengthen transnational cooperation, mutual learning, and networking among project partners and relevant stakeholders.
• Share and compare local working group models, prevention approaches with men and boys, and peer-led initiatives.
• Promote the transferability and sustainability of project results at transnational level.
WP4 focuses on transnational exchange, networking, and the consolidation of project results.
A central activity in WP4 is a transnational networking event. This event brings together project partners, members of local working groups, legal professionals, police representatives responsible for cyberviolence, local health authorities, educators, youth workers, sports and community organisations, peer ambassadors, young participants, and relevant civil society organisations. The event includes presentations of local results, workshops led by partners and young ambassadors, demonstrations of activity kits, and an exhibition of student-created poster and digital materials.
The work package culminates in a transnational practice document or recommendations paper. This synthesises lessons learned from local working groups, WP3 implementation, and transnational exchange. It offers practical guidance for other territories and organisations that wish to establish similar local cooperation mechanisms and prevention programmes with men and boys.
WP5 – Communication and dissemination
WP5 covers all communication and dissemination activities throughout the project. It begins with the development of a communication and dissemination plan that defines target audiences, key messages, channels, tools, and responsibilities. The plan ensures consistency across partners and alignment with CERV‑Daphne visibility requirements.