#abusive conduct prevention training

[samkerrworshipper]

suffer in silence | barca femeni x reader

warnings: self harm, depression, mentions of abuse, alcoholism, angst, fluff, anger, treatment of sh scars… i don’t proofread so sorry if theirs typos xo

“Y/n, can we talk to you for a minute?”

Your attention was captured by Alexia, who was flanked on either side by Lucy and Mapi. You kept your eyes centred on the ball at your feet, you didn’t want to talk to any of the olderwomen, you wanted to continue your shooting practice.

“Can’t I talk to you after this?”

It was a deflection, one that was well overused by you at this stage, normally you would deflect until the women forgot about it or you had enough of an opportunity to slip away from them.

“No, come with us.”

Alexia’s voice was as cold as Antarctica, like a cold piece of ice pressed against your skin, brutally freezing you to your spot on the pitch.

“I’m good.”

It was stupid for you to try and defy the woman, she was terrifying. Alexia’s jaw locked itself, your eyes unable to meet the older woman's cold ones. Mapi reached out, clutching down onto your bicep hard enough to make you wince, her practised fingers bearing down on your skin and yanking you towards them.

“Not a smart idea little girl, we were going to be nice and let you have a say in this but now you’ve gotten yourself in trouble.”

You were dragged behind the older women, some of your other teammates that were still on the pitch watching as you kicked your heels down on the ground in which you were being hauled along. Mapi’s grip was inescapable though, her iron-like grip on your bicep so tight that you were forced to her hip, having nowhere near enough strength to stop her from walking you directly towards the tunnel. She walked behind Alexia, letting the captain lead the way into the locker room. Once Lucy had closed and locked the door behind you Mapi pushed you down onto one of the benches, her arms falling to your shoulders to stop you from trying to escape the women.

“I’m pretty sure this is kidnappery.”

Your voice was a low murmur, you were teetering on the edge with Alexia and you knew it, you knew that one little push would have her hurling over the cliff, a storm of anger pushing her.

“What in god's name made you think it was okay to behave that way on the pitch?”

You knew Alexia had been nothing but disappointed with your conduct recently, she’d been on your ass about getting your shit together and you’d been ignoring her, for a multitude of reasons. This week though, it had all gone downhill for you. You were currently on a six day bender, something you were not exactly proud of but didn’t really have any intention of ending. Today though, everything had been so much words and early on in training you’d gotten in a tussle with Ingrid that you weren’t exactly proud of, which had then resulted in a fairly heated interaction with Frido which had ended in Keira dragging you away from the older woman to prevent anything serious happening.

“Ingrid was being pushy.”

It was a lie and you knew it, the girl was a complete golden retriever, she couldn’t hurt a fly if she tried and she’d been nothing but nice to you, for some reason she’d just been getting on your nerves today for some reason.

“No she wasn’t and even if she was that is hardly an excuse to be so aggressive to a teammate.”

Alexia’s voice was brutally harsh, beating down on you with no mercy.

“Nobody was hurt.”

Your words were even meeker than before, your confidence shrinking as the minutes went by.

“She very well could have been if Keira hadn’t managed to get to you in time.”

Alexia’s voice was pointed, she wasn’t accepting your weak attempt at an excuse.

“Okay, I’m sorry, can we be done now?”

The last thing you’d wanted after that training session was to be sitting down in front of a very angry Alexia, Lucy and Mapi on the flip side of a lecture that you were aware was probably overdue.

“No, we’re not done. Aitana talked to me this morning.”

Aitana was your best friend, your roommate, and you weren’t exactly sure what she’d told Alexia but you knew from the facial expression she was giving you that it couldn’t have been good. You racked your brains trying to think about what Aitana could have told her, she knew more about you then anybody else, she was like your sister and you were a little bit worried about what she could have told your captain.

“Aitana doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

It was another deflection, because there was a very small, niggling chance that she was bluffing and that small chance was enough for you to stay defiant. You tried to keep your eye contact with Alexia, but momentarily averted it when the vulnerability of the conversation became too much.

“She seemed to know quite a lot this morning when Salma found her balling her eyes out in the bathroom. It took a good half an hour to get her to calm down before she was coherent enough to tell us what had her so worried.”

You bit down on your lip, you still weren’t exactly sure what Aitana had told Alexia, and you weren’t stupid enough to give away information that hadn’t been revealed, so you let the sentence mellow out in the room, trying to figure out what there was for you to say.

“Aitana is antsy about the Ballon D’or, she’s hardly been sleeping lately, let alone thinking straight.”

Alexia’s eyebrows rose almost up to her hairline, her right one cocked at me, silently asking me if I was really lying to her right now. One thing Alexia hated was lying, it was her pet peeve. I didn’t think that I was blatantly lying to her right now though, just avoiding telling the truth.

“I agree, she is antsy. But she’s also an observant girl, and she’s a strong one, she doesn’t get worked up over nothing, that’s why I was so perplexed when we found her having a mental breakdown. To her credit, it took quite a lot of work from our end to try and get to the bottom of it, but she cracked eventually.”

This whole situation, Mapi’s hands secured on your arms to stop you from moving from the bench, Alexia looking down at you from her spot standing above you, Lucy standing by the door like a security guard. It was screaming interrogation, screaming some kind of intervention and it was making you feel sick to your stomach, because whilst you’d been in a fair amount of trouble over the years with Alexia and your teammates, it had never quite looked like this.

“Aitana does not know what she is talking about.”

Your words were forced out between your gritted teeth, you weren’t sure what she’d told the women, but based off of their facial expressions it really wasn’t good, the mixture of anger and concern written all over their face enough to tell you that their dismay stemmed far further than your actions on the field.

“She seemed to know what she was talking about when she told us that you’ve hardly been spending any time at home, that you are out every night, gone far before she’s in bed and home long after she’s awoken. She says that you’ve been binge drinking, and that you’ve been engaging in some other self soothing behaviours that are hardly disconcerting.”

This was the point where you could try and reason with Alexia, or you could flat out lie. You felt like you were at a crossroads, a part of you wanted to just break down, let her know just how much pain you’d been experiencing for the past few months, but you weren’t going down without a fight.

“Aitana’s full of shit.”

Your voice was nowhere near as confident as you wished it to be, you felt like your body was being washed out to sea, like you were floating on a raft in the middle of the ocean and just slowly drifting out of reach.

“Aitana has never lied to me, you however, do not have as good of a track record. I would give you the benefit of the doubt, but the shakiness, excessive sweating, clammy hands, dilated pupils, agitation and tremors are a pretty sure sign that you're coming down from a pretty bad hangover.”

You purse your lips, and ignore the way that Mapi’s hands had now released themselves from your arms and she’d seated herself down next to you, one of her palms coming down to rest on your knee. The whole approach was very different to the one that she had with you a few minutes ago, her harsh grip transitioning to one that resembled comfort.

“C’mon cariño, you can tell us what’s been happening, we’re here for you.”

Mapi’s voice was practically cooing at you, so gentle, like a piece of silk. You kept your facial expression stock still, trying your very hardest to keep up your shields that you’d been holding up with your bare hands for weeks now.

“Nothing’s happening, I’m fine.”

It was a flat out lie, so much had been happening, so much stuff that you’d never wanted the light of day to see, things that were making you feel anything but fine.

“Take off your shirt y/n.”

You felt your whole body jolt at the question. Alexia had probably seen you thousands of times without a shirt on, hell you’d probably seen eachother naked hundreds of times. But something about the nature of the request, the intention behind it, made it feel so wrong to you, especially with three sets of eyes beating down directly onto you.

“Excuse me?”

There was worry behind your words, a different kind of worry that stemmed from the pit of your stomach, a worry that Alexia knew more than she was letting on.

“You say that Aitana is lying to me, then prove to me that some of the things she’s told me about you are untrue and I’ll start believing what you are telling me.”

Parts of your body tensed up that you’d never felt tight before. The coil in your body winding itself up as tightly as it could, your whole body stilling at Alexia’s words.

“That’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair is you lying to me, so make your decision.”

Alexia’s voice was so harsh, so protective, fired backwards at you with anger. You knew that most of the anger came from her overwhelming protective tendencies that she had for you, you were like her daughter, or younger sister, a responsibility that she took very seriously. Sometimes she was overbearingly protective, if anybody did as much as touch you on the field they were dead meat, and almost guaranteed to be on the receiving end of a brutal tackle the next time the ball came anywhere near them. She loved you like a sister, and loved you enough to have realised that right now, you were driving yourself to the edge of a cliff and she wasn’t sure how far off you were from going over the edge and she would be damned if she let you go overboard without putting up a fight.

“I’m not lying.”

It was a weak argument, one that you knew Alexia would struggle to believe, an argument she would just brush off like a piece of lint on her shoulder.

“Okay then, show me that.”

Your jaw stayed locked, Alexia mirroring the same face, neither of you wanting to recognise the others argument.

You didn’t know what to say or do, because you knew what you were hiding, and Alexia did as well. But something about airing it out, admitting it, showing her it, made all of it so much worse, like it wasn’t just something you were struggling with, it was going to be something that the three women were aware you were struggling with and that made it so much worse for some reason that you couldn’t explain.

“Come on hermosa, you don’t have to hide from us anymore, you can show us, we’re here for you.”

Mapi’s words struck your heartstrings, pulling and tugging at them intensely, bringing tears to the back of your eyes. It was like a good cop bad cop type situation, the two contrasting Spanish women taking up all of the room in your brain.

Mapi tucked gently at the sleeve of your Barcelona hoodie, a gentle reminder of what it was that they were asking of you.

“You won’t be mad?”

Alexia’s brick wall of a face dropped a little bit, the sternness and toughness on her face dissipating enough for her to give you a little reassuring smile.

“Never.”

You let out a deep breath, tugging strongly at the bottom of your hoodie and beginning to tug it over your head slowly.

Underneath you were wearing nothing more than your sports bra, so as soon as the material was removed from your body everything that you’d been working so tirelessly to hide was on reveal and it made you just a little bit sick to your stomach. What if they hated you? What if they didn’t understand? What if they thought you were crazy?

Alexia took in a deep breath, sucking in a decent amount of oxygen as her eyes darted across your upper body and stomach, raking across your skin.

“Lucia, can you please retrieve the first aid kit, it should be in the medical cupboard.”

Lucy nodded deftly as Alexia, surprise clear on her face as she took a look at your body, her eyes popping just a little bit out of her eye sockets as she looked all over your body.

Alexia, after taking a proper assessment of your body, seated herself down beside you on the bench, sandwiching you between her and Mapi. Alexia’s hand fell down to your thigh, rubbing a little circle against your knee as she awaited Lucy.

Lucy quickly returned, retrieving the medical kit that Alexia had requested and handing it over to her before sitting herself down on the floor of the rooms, directly in front of the three of you.

Alexia very quickly dived into the kit, picking out a few items before handing the kit back to Lucy and looking down at you, a lot of emotions passing through her eyes.

“I’m going to treat these, and once I’m done we are going to sit down and talk about it, alright. I’ll apply some burn cream and disinfectant, just to stop infection, it’s going to hurt but the last thing we need is you getting some form of infection, so hold Mapi’s hand and just take some deep breaths for me.”

You nodded at Alexia, taking a look down at your abdomen only to be faced with the scattered self inflicted burns and scars that littered your toned stomach. It wasn’t something you were proud of, but it also wasn’t something that you were scared of.

Alexia got to work immediately, picking up the cream and pressing a little dollop to her finger before very gently beginning to work it into the tattered skin across your abdomen. It wasn’t pretty, and you winced as the disinfectant seeped into your skin and burned.

Mapi clutched onto your hand, rubbing circles into your palm with her thumb whilst whispering sweet Spanish nothings in your ear. You clutched onto her, as Alexia continued her process, not faltering once even as you cried out and whined, she knew that she had to do this and stopping every time you exhaled was only going to make the process so much more stretched out and painful.

Once she finished with the disinfectant she moved on to a burn cream, which hurt less but still stung all the same. She gently worked it into the markings, taking time with every one to focus individually on them. Her brows furrowed deeper with every single mark she located, you wondered if she was taking a tally, it was something Ale would do. She wasn’t exactly a worrier, but she was an empath and the kind of person that took responsibility for everything, and internally you knew that this would just be another one of those things that she’d think was her fault and you hated that, because it couldn’t be any further from the truth.

The process of watching Alexia finish up with cleaning the wounds was more painful than anything else, listening to her exhale as she tucked the cream tubes back into the first aid kit and looked up at you, a unsure frown on her face. It wasn’t a deep one, not the kind that gave you frown lines, the kind that quirked the corners of your mouth up and didn’t fully reach your eyes. An anxious frown, not a sad one.

“How about we go back to my house? We can talk about this over some dinner, how does that sound cariño?”

Whilst Mapi had phrased it as a question, you knew it actually wasn’t, she knew just as all of you did that in the next half an hour everyone was going to trail into the locker rooms, and whether she wanted to admit it or not, there was a good chance that this whole situation was going to make a scene and none of you wanted that kind of attention.

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

Mapi looked over at Alexia, her eyes attaching to the slightly younger woman, a silent prayer for her to back her up.

“Sweet, let’s just get you back to Maria’s, and we can sort it out there, yeah? We’re all worried about you.”

You locked your jaw, you wanted to say no, but you also knew it would be pointless, the word no simply wasn’t a phrase that was a part of your vocabulary in this interaction.

“C’mon hermosa, let’s get out of here.”

Alexia pulled her jacket from her shoulders, draping it back over yours and zipping it up to the top, leaving none of your now treated marks on show. Mapi had already reached into your cubby, collecting the groups bags and hauling them onto her broad shoulders, the defenders muscular arms not even looking strained by the weight of your fours bags. Lucy was tasked with getting you standing, a job you thought you could do by yourself, but found to be a struggle when you realised that your legs had sort of numbed themselves, a cloudy kind of bizarreness that had spread itself out across your body. You let Lucy take the reins with you, swinging one of your arms over her shoulder to assist her with hauling you out of the rooms and directly out into the car park.

You were practically dead weight, having to focus all of your energy on putting each foot in front of the other. It was hard work for you, but you were rewarded when you finally made it to Ale’s car, Lucy helping you into the backseat and following you in, pulling you into a hug whilst she tasked herself with getting both of your seatbelts clicked in. As soon as they were, and Alexia and Mapi had taken their seats in the front they began driving.

You let your body relax into Lucy’s, not doing much thinking, just allowing yourself to exist. It was hard work sometimes, allowing yourself to exist. It was easy enough to go through the motions, to just force yourself to do the basic things, but actually existing, actually living, it fucking sucked and it was fucking hard work. When you pulled up at Mapi’s house, Lucy helped you back out of the car and practically hauled you up the stairs and into Mapi’s house. It was harder work than it seemed, you were mostly dead weight, so Lucy was dragging your whole bodyweight. When she did make it to the door, Ingrid was waiting there, with bottles of water and a big fluffy blanket that Lucy very quickly wrapped around your shoulders and with the assistance of Ingrid they managed to lift you up and onto the couch in the middle of the apartment, letting you tuck yourself into the blankets and pillows.

Ingrid was the first one to sit down with you, bringing your blanketed form into her arms and cradling you against her chest. A lot of the time they forgot just how young you were, only just 19. You’d been running with the big girls since you were 14 though, making your debut for both Barcelona and Spain that year. You were still a kid though, you were mature and you were more than good enough to be where you were, but sometimes the women forgot that you were simply just less experienced, and far younger than any of them.

“Jeg har deg vakker, der er greit.”

Ingrid’s words were murmured against your forehead as she pressed a kiss to your hairline, pressing a bottle of water to your lips. You took a few tentative sips, before pushing the bottle away with your face. Ingrid didn’t push you, she just nodded and placed it down on the coffee table before focusing back on you. Ingrid was a good soul, sometimes too much so. Sometimes she just cared too much, but right now it felt like just enough, especially considering just how much hurt you’d been forced to feel over the past few hours. Ingrid was making you feel loved, something that you’d been lacking over the past few weeks.

It was a few minutes later, or maybe a few hours, though you were doubtful over the latter because it was still light outside when Alexia, Mapi and Lucy joined the two of you on the couch. Alexia looked like she’d been crying, something you were not used to, nor expecting and it played with your head, had you made her sad? Was it your fault that she had been crying?

Alexia sat down in front of you, on the floor, finding your hands and taking them in her own, looking you eye to eye. You moved yourself a little bit out of Ingrid’s arms, not fully removing yourself from her embrace, but moving yourself so you could focus more on Alexia.

“Bebita, how long?”

The question was vague, but you knew what she was asking and suddenly it made everything feel so much more real, you couldn’t shove this under the carpet, or try and act like it had never happened, because it was happening, right now in front of you.

“Ale.”

Your words were pleading, she shook her head at you, her face gentle but stubborn.

“No, you can’t pout your way out of this. I’m not going to be mad, or disappointed, I just need you to be honest with me, that’s all I ask hermosa, just be honest with me and we’ll work this out, I promise.”

Your eyes fell to the carpet. You could feel Mapi and Lucy sitting down beside you on the couch, Mapi’s hands coming up to massage your shoulders and Lucy’s falling to your lower back, tracing gentle patterns across the skin.

“Since I was 16, I stopped when I was 17, picked it up after the World Cup, after the trials and what happened with Jorge.”

Alexia’s breath caught in her chest. She knew that she should have tried harder to support you when it was happening, knew that you weren’t fully okay after everything that had gone down at the world cup, especially after it had been revealed how the coaching staff had been treating you, and keeping it a secret.

“Okay, thank you for telling me. You’ve been going through a lot, and it’s understandable that you needed something to compensate for all the pain you’ve been feeling. But this can’t go on hermosa, not when you're harming yourself in the process. It’s not safe for your physical health or mental health. You're dependent on it, and it’s understandable, as a kid you found something that worked for you, that took away a fraction of the pain you were feeling. It helped you survive, I commend you for that, truly. You found a way to live in a world that wanted nothing more than for you to fail, good on you. But you aren’t a sixteen year old girl anymore, cowering in a corner from abuse and hate, you are 19 and you have people around you who love and cherish you, mi amor. You don’t have to rely on the same survival techniques that you used as a kid, because you aren’t a kid anymore. You can live now, go on holiday, wake up at 5am to watch the sunset, and party. You can have fun without other people's permission, you can be whoever the fuck you want to be and not have to apologise for it. That’s the best part about growing up, that you get to be whoever you want, unapologetically.”

Alexia’s words were so honest, so raw, like they were coming from the very depths of her heart. It hit you hard, right in the chest, like a punch to the stomach, because what were you supposed to say to that?

“I don’t know how to do any of those things.”

Your words were murmured from your lips, only just leaving your voice box. It was the honesty of the moment, the honesty of expressing to these women that you’d never done any of those things.

You were fairly certain that honesty was your favourite thing in the world, because it wasn’t easy to be honest. It was easy to hide behind white lies and blurred screens, but you couldn’t hide behind honesty. The best way to love another person is to be honest with them. You’d fallen in love over the years with honesty, with people's honest moments. Their unmade beds, the moments when they were drunk and crying and can’t be anything but honest with you in the moment. The look in a person's eyes when they realise that they’ve just told you something about themselves that is humiliating or not necessarily the norm, or the look somebody gives you when they’ve just woken up and they’ve forgotten where they are, or the gasp they make when their favourite character dies in a movie. You fell in love with people and their honest moments all the time, a slip up of words, smeared makeup, daydreams, breakdown, mourning, anger, laughter. When somebody is honest with you it makes you happier, it makes you more yourself with them because you trust them with you, with the real you. You become the first person that is looked at when something is going wrong, the kind of person that you can be strong for but also exhausted. You can laugh but also talk about trauma. That person for you right now was Alexia, a woman who was lying everything out in front of you and the sheer honesty that she was showing you was forcing you to break at the seams.

“That’s okay, that’s what we’re all here for. We’re going to be here to support you every single step of the way, but that starts with you making the promise that you are going to try. I understand relapse is a part of the cycle, I’m not naive or stupid, I know that you’ve got an addiction, just like any other. So I’m not asking you to stop right this minute, or try and tell you that we’re just going to turn your life around with the snap of fingers, because we won’t. I want you to promise me that you are going to try though, and come to us if you have tendencies. Surviving isn’t pretty, y/n/n, it sucks and it’s fucking hard. I just need you to be honest with us though, just tell us the truth, because there is zero point in bullshitting us when we are going to find out anyway.”

You sucked in a deep breath, nodding at Alexia’s words.

“I’ll try.”

Alexia smiled and nodded at you, taking a deep breath as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. You felt the demon that had been in your head slowly start to silence itself. For you it had always been one more mark, just another one to add the the collection. It was never about stopping, never about caring. Why would you care? You were put on the planet to serve your country, that was your job. It didn’t matter how you got there, just that you did get there. Now you were there though, and it was all coming crashing down on you. There was no reward for the years of abuse, neglect and pain. The damage to your body and soul didn’t matter, nothing did. You were just another casualty, another body left to the pile.

“You deserve a good life hermosa. The abuse, trauma and pain you had to endure, the unbelievable pain that has changed you forever, makes you a fighter. With the memoir of scars, you are a warrior born into the mess of life but you are a brave soul, one deserving of love, if you’ll accept it.”

You felt like there were glass shards pressing to your throat, digging into the skin and your oesophagus. You didn’t know how to explain it but you were angry. Angry that you were being forced to recover from something that you should have been protected from. You were too young to be this ghost of pain, children were supposed to be happy and free and yet that was something that you hadn’t truly experienced in the last five years. You could have been a little girl, and yet the people who were supposed to protect you failed you and no amount of healing would change that. You were never getting your childhood back, or not the version of it that you wished to have. It hurt, from the inside out, knowing that you were never going to have that part of your life to reminisce over, that one day, when you had kids of your own, maybe. You’d never be able to tell them the stories, tell them about your own childhood, because for you it had all been soccer.

“I’m going to try for you, te prometo que.”

Alexia smiled at you, nodding and pushing herself up off of Mapi’s rug and joining your pile on the couch, nuzzling herself into you, essentially sandwiching you in between the four women.

“We know you will tesoro, and if you fall we’ll be here to catch you, we’ve got you from now on, no more hiding from us, si?”

You nodded hopelessly into Alexia’s chest, letting yourself fall into the women and having faith that they were going to catch you, that you didn’t have to fight this battle all by yourself anymore.

[edmundodiazz]

psychiatrist vs psychologist vs therapist

A question for Americans (and others if someone else wants to chime in).

So recently I became very curious about the distinction of these professions in the US (and around the world, as well, but the media I've been consuming has been, for the most part, American).

I keep hearing these words used interchangeably, and I began to wonder if maybe it wasn't always necessarily as much as lack of knowledge as, perhaps, differences in culture and education.

(Tbh I wasn't aware of all the nuances myself, so to explain the differences in a most comprehensive way I've searched for online acrticles that could explain it better, so the definitions below are translated (and sometimes also edited) paragraphs of online articles and not my own words.)

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor. To become a psychiatrist, you must gain a medical degree (after six years of study at the university) and then undergo an additional five years of internship in the field of psychiatry (similarily to any other medical doctor such as surgeon, endocrinologist, gynecologist etc.)

The specialization lasts about five years and includes theoretical classes and an internship in a designated medical facility. Only after finishing those additional five years of study can a medical graduate obtain the right to practice as a psychiatrist.

A psychiatrist is, therefore, primarily a physician who can work in medical facilities - treating patients with mental disorders and diseases. He also has, unlike a psychologist, the ability to prescribe medication to patients for the disorders they suffer from, as well as order a blood test or some other additional medical examinations.

A psychologist, on the other hand, is a person with a master's degree in psychology (the education lasts for five years). A psychologist, however, doesn't deal only with diseases and mental disorders but can also provide psychological support in difficult moments of life, career counseling and similar areas.

Not every psychologist works at their own office or provides consultations. There are psychologists who recruit employees or conduct training. There are psychologists who deal with psychometrics (development of psychological tests), scientific work, consumer research, etc.

Unfortunately, the profession of a psychologist in Poland has not yet been properly regulated or controlled (as is the case with doctors). Therefore, there are abuses by people who have completed postgraduate studies or courses in psychology in the title and call themselves psychologists despite the lack of five-year master's studies.

There is also somone called a clinical psychologist who has attained the master's degree in psychology and then completed an additional four-year specialization in psychology. They have more practical experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. Clinical psychology is a discipline applied to healthcare. A clinical psychologist is a master of psychology with competencies in the field of specialization in the clinical psychology of adults, children and adolescents.

A psychotherapist is a person who has completed higher education and, in addition, a minimum of four years of psychotherapy training. Psychotherapists are most often psychologists, but they can also be doctors, midwives, nurses, sociologists or educators. To some extent, their competences overlap with those of a clinical psychologist. There are several leading schools of psychotherapy, which means that the training of a psychotherapist may emphasize various elements of the functioning of the psyche. Training in psychotherapy is long and very expensive.

(It should be noted that a psychiatrist, like a psychologist, is not licensed to conduct psychotherapy, unless they have completed postgraduate training in psychotherapy. A psychiatrist deals primarily with the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of mental illness.)

A therapist is an oft confused and overused word. Many may call themselves a therapist because they have completed one-year postgraduate studies in, for example, behavioral therapy for children with autism. Still others have master's degrees in pedagogical therapy with children with dyslexia. For others, completing a weekend-long therapy course is enough to call themselves a therapist. There are also occupational therapists working, for example, with children with disabilities. A therapist does not have to be a psychotherapist or even a psychologist.

Again, I wasn't aware of everything that has been said here, though I think it is safe to say that most people in my country (or at least the people I've come into contact with) do distinguish the major diferrences between a psychiatrist and a psychologist.

I wrote this post because, like I said before, I was often confused by the their perception in (mostly, I'd imagine) American media (tv shows, movies, books, online videos and articles, blogs and fanfics.) I'm curious, does the education look similiar in other countries? How easy/hard is it to study in those fields?

(I know I could search for the answers on the Internet but I guess I'd like to try a more social approach of asking actual people first).

(Sources for the articles can be found here, here, and here.)

[basicsofislam]

BASICS OF ISLAM: Fasting: On Fasting&Self-control.Part1

Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic lunar calendar. It is a special month of the year for over one billion Muslims throughout the world. 

It is sometimes referred to as the “Sultan of the 11 months.” During this month healthy adult Muslims fast, from the break of dawn until sunset. Fasting requires abstinence from eating, drinking, and intercourse during the daylight hours; that is, about an hour and a half before sunrise until sunset. An early breakfast is recommended in the prophetic tradition, taken before dawn. At the end of the day the fast is broken with a meal called the iftar. It is the prophetic tradition to break the fast with a date, olive or some water.

Ramadan is a time of intensive worship and devotion to God, of reading the Qur’an and reflecting on its teachings, of comprehensive thanksgiving, giving to charity, practicing self-control and kindness, of training oneself to be a better person spiritually and improving relationships with others.

Fasting is not that difficult

To non-Muslims fasting in Ramadan may appear to be a time of hardship and deprivation, but that is not the experience of Muslims. There are at least five ameliorating factors that make fasting much easier than it appears.

These are :

the magic of intention

the community spirit

the ability of the human body to adapt

social/cultural cooperation

divine help

The initial intention significantly reduces the perceived difficulty. Once one commits to fasting, it becomes much more doable and feasible. Knowing and seeing that fellow believers are fasting with you and sharing the early breakfast or the dinner with them strengthens the community spirit. Thirdly, the human body is amazingly adaptable. Within the first few days of fasting the body adapts to the new schedule and one does not feel hunger as one normally would. In communities where Muslims are a majority or a significant minority, there is assistance or cooperation offered to the fasters, such as flexible holidays and working hours. Finally, for any worshipper, there is divine help which eases the task once the worshipper has committed to doing it.

Over 500 million Muslims, from age 9 to 90 fast every year. Fasting does not prevent them from conducting their mundane work or business as usual. As a pillar of the religious life in Islam, fasting is probably the most practiced form of worship. Muslims think of Ramadan as a kind of tune-up for their spiritual lives.

The four dimensions of Ramadan

As the third “pillar,” or religious duty in Islam, fasting has many dimensions:

the behavioral dimension

the religious dimension

the social dimension

the spiritual dimension

The first is the obvious behavioral dimension. Fasting in Ramadan is a means of learning self-control. Due to a lack of preoccupation with the satisfaction of bodily appetites during the daylight hours when fasting, the spirit gains a measure of ascendancy. The soul is freed of the chains placed by carnal desires. Fasting provides a break in the cycle of rigid habits or overindulgence.

During fasting, not only the stomach, but also the tongue, eyes, ears, other limbs, and the heart and mind are equally obligated to be restrained. Just as we control our physical appetites, we also must control our negative emotions and actions. The Messenger of Islam, Muhammad, peace be upon him, expressed that fasting is not only restraining from food and drink, but that it also means refraining from impious acts. He said that if a person does not control their senses and behavior, then God does not require that person to refrain from eating. He added that if someone verbally abuses you, acts ignorantly towards you, or even hurts you, you should respond by only saying, “I am fasting; I am indeed fasting.”

According to the masters of Sufism, the spiritual dimension of Islam, not only one’s organs, but also one’s thoughts and feelings need to be tightly controlled during this month.

[equalityvoices]

Increasing Concerns Over LGBTQ+ Safety on London Public Transport

A recent survey conducted by London TravelWatch has brought to light a disturbing reality for LGBTQ+ individuals using public transport in London. The study, involving 600 participants, revealed that one in five LGBTQ+ people experienced abuse on public transport over the past year. This alarming statistic underscores the persistent threat of violence and harassment faced by this community.

Bystander Apathy Adds to the Trauma

The survey further highlighted a concerning trend of bystander inaction. Ash Morgan, a 28-year-old Londoner, shared a harrowing experience of being physically assaulted on a train at Clapham South. The indifference of fellow passengers, who neither offered help nor showed compassion, exacerbated his trauma. Morgan’s experience reflects a broader pattern of bystander apathy that adds to the distress of victims.

Forced Changes in Behavior and Appearance

A staggering four out of five respondents admitted to altering their behavior or appearance to blend in and avoid conflict. Ash Morgan himself confessed to avoiding bright clothes and refraining from wearing pronoun pins on public transport, as a precaution against potential harassment.

Reporting Incidents: A Path Filled with Disappointment

The reluctance of victims to report incidents is another significant issue. Despite Ash Morgan’s effort to report his assault, including providing the carriage number and time, he was discouraged from doing so and informed that an investigation was unlikely. This experience is not isolated, as many LGBTQ+ people express little confidence in the police, leading to underreporting of incidents.

A Call for Greater Safety and Inclusivity

Michael Roberts, CEO of London TravelWatch, expressed concern over the increasing perception of London as a less safe city, especially for the LGBTQ+ community. This sentiment challenges the notion of London as a tolerant and diverse global city.

Initiatives and Commitments to Counter Hate Crimes

In response to these concerns, Siwan Hayward, Director of Security, Policing, and Enforcement at Transport for London, emphasized their commitment to protecting all passengers from harm. Initiatives include campaigns against hate and abusive behavior and collaboration with LGBTQ+ groups to address these issues.

Similarly, Det Ch Supt Paul Furnell of the British Transport Police assured that preventing and tackling hate crime is a top priority. The force works closely with LGBTQ+ charities and employs visible patrols and dedicated operations, along with extensive CCTV coverage, to ensure safety and swift response to hate crimes.

The findings and responses highlight a critical need for more effective measures to ensure the safety and dignity of LGBTQ+ individuals in public spaces, reinforcing the call for a more inclusive and secure urban environment.

©equalityvoices.org

[ukrfeminism]

5 minute read

November 26 2022, The Sunday Times

When Sophie, a female firefighter, walked past male colleagues, they would taunt her about her weight by imitating the sound of a truck reversing.

Then there was the time at the London Fire Brigade (LFB), when her helmet was filled with urine, and the moment she found herself zipped inside a body bag as part of a practical joke.

The experiences contributed to Sophie (not her real name) being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Looking back, she compares her time at work to being in an abusive relationship.

Her anecdotes, along with dozens of other examples of racism, bullying and misogyny, will form part of a damning 88-page investigation published tomorrow, which will reveal the “toxic culture” in the country’s largest fire service.

Details include a black employee finding a noose above his locker, while a Muslim firefighter had a terrorism hotline sticker placed near his belongings. When the man returned from the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, colleagues asked how his “al-Qaeda training” had gone. At some stations, semen was smeared on women’s tunics.

For Nazir Afzal, the former chief crown prosecutor in the Rochdale grooming gang case, who was asked to conduct the LFB independent review, the stories he heard over many months were “stomach-turning”. Although Afzal emphasised that “our review is rooted in deep respect for the work of LFB staff”, he concluded that the brigade was institutionally misogynistic and racist.

Afzal and his team conducted 250 interviews with former and current staff as well as a dozen focus groups. More than 100 written submissions were received and surveys completed by 1,672 employees.

The report, titled the Independent Cultural Review of London Fire Brigade and obtained by The Sunday Times, was commissioned following the death of Jaden Francois-Esprit, a trainee at Wembley fire station who took his own life aged 21 in August 2020.

An inquest last year heard that Francois-Esprit believed he was being bullied at work because of his ethnicity, with claims that he was teased about the Caribbean food he brought in for lunch. He had made 16 requests to be transferred to another station.

Delivering her conclusion in February 2021, Mary Hassell, the coroner, said that Francois-Esprit had not been bullied. He did, however, have a “vivid interior life at odds with the world around him”, she told St Pancras coroner’s court in London, and his deteriorating mental health had gone undetected.

Although LFB already had “sophisticated” mental health services it could do more, Hassell said in her conclusion. Ordering a prevention of future deaths report, she wrote: “In my opinion, there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken.”

It was after the inquest that the brigade’s commissioner, Andy Roe, opened an independent investigation.

In a statement released tonight the brigade said it was taking immediate action after the recommendations made in the report. Roe said: “Today is a very sobering day. There is no place for discrimination, harassment and bullying in the brigade and from today it will be completely clear to all staff what behaviour isn’t acceptable and what the consequences will be. I am deeply sorry for the harm that has been caused.”

Roe said he would be “fully accountable for improving our culture” and said he would accept all of the recommendations in the review.

The figures provided for Afzal’s report backed up Hassell’s fears. In the past five years, six members of the brigade’s staff had taken their own lives, data revealed. It also gave “harrowing examples” of those who attempted suicide.

“Unless a toxic culture that allows bullying and abuse to be normalised is tackled then I fear that, like Jaden, other firefighters will tragically take their lives,” Afzal concluded.

His comments came after many pages of testimony from those who had worked in the brigade.

One woman writes: “It’s now reached a point with me that I tell my female friends not to let male firefighters in the house. Why? Because I know what they do. They go through women’s drawers looking for underwear and sex toys. Then they will spend hours bragging about the dildo they found and they will refer to the women as sluts. We hear it all the time and I’m sick of it.”

A Muslim staff member said he was “routinely bullied” because of his faith, with bacon and sausages put in his coat.

In WhatsApp messages shared with Afzal’s team, members of the brigade mocked the death of the black basketball player Kobe Bryant, who was killed in a helicopter crash with his daughter in 2020. Time and time again, racial and misogynistic abuse was passed off as “banter” at the brigade.

The report adds to the scandals that have engulfed the emergency services in recent years. Wayne Couzens, a Metropolitan Police officer, was jailed almost a year ago for the rape and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard.

The LFB was also accused of “serious shortcomings” and systemic failures” in its response to the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, in which 72 died.

As part of the Afzal report, Dany Cotton, head of the brigade at the time of the Grenfell blaze, was interviewed. She describes being told on more than one occasion that London was not ready for a female commissioner. She began a campaign to stop the use of the word fireman, called #Firefightingsexism and received death threats.

“Many people wanted me to fail and several said it to my face,” she tells the review, adding that one of her biggest battles was with “internal terrorists”, appearing to refer to the brigade.

Yet she is declining to talk publicly in support of the independent report, in part to avoid yet more abuse. Cotton is one of many women in the LFB who shared their experiences.

The report’s authors write: “This ranged from being groped during training exercises and kicked and punched, to having their uniforms urinated on and men keeping diaries of when they suspected women were on a period and telling them they ‘didn’t want to be around women who were bleeding’.”

One female employee said: “The threshold for bullying is so high, you would have to gouge someone’s eyes out to get sacked. Everything else is seen as banter.”

Sophie often thinks back to an evening out with colleagues when the DJ played a song which began with a shout out for “Sophie the station cleaner”.

That night she was having only soft drinks but they tasted sweet — spiked with spirits — so she kept throwing them away when no one was looking.

When she went to the lavatory she overheard her male colleagues conspiring to get her drunk, with a bet on to see who could get her back to the station to have sex. She saw that as conspiracy to rape.

But as awful as that seemed at the time, it was not quite as bad as the humiliating day in the mess when her colleague bent down in front of everyone and sniffed her crotch. He said she must be having her period as she smelt like his dog’s bottom: “all blood and shit”.

No one intervened, no line manager stepped in, Sophie says. In fact they usually laughed too. And some of those men are now senior figures in the brigade, she says.

Last year, the brigade attended more than 100,000 call-outs. There are 102 fire stations, which are home to 412 watches — the teams that operate in shifts around the clock.

More than 4,500 of the 5,000 staff are firefighters, but only 425 are women and just over 500 are from ethnic minorities, a tiny proportion in such a diverse city.

At their best, the report finds, London firefighters work closely, look out for each other and share a keen sense of pride and purpose. “The work is frequently dangerous, so their closeness is based on a need for firefighters to be able to completely rely on each other and trust colleagues with their life,” the review says.

It may take some comfort from the finding that the “demonstrable bigotry” found in fire stations does not extend to the public.

When it comes to saving lives, apparently, firefighters do not discriminate. “It’s like someone pulls a switch,” one black firefighter tells Afzal. “They change when they’re on the fire ground. It’s like they remember why they’re firefighters.”

It seems to Afzal that the brigade’s culture is “pickled in aspic”, a throwback to the last century “where offensive banter — particularly that characterised by extreme sexism — was apparent.” Some watches seem to operate almost “outside the law”, Afzal adds.

“There were fights and I nearly had my legs broken,” one watch manager says in the report. “I’ve been urinated on, headbutted, had cold water poured over me. It was horrendous.”

The measures put in place by the brigade to make improvements — initiatives such as the “Togetherness Strategy” and the “Safe To Speak” programme — are ineffective, the investigation concludes.

The report describes a “mental health time bomb”, with a significant number of firefighters who are vulnerable and appear to lack support. “We need to rescue ourselves as well as rescue others,” one union said.

The brigade’s human resources data analytics are “lacking sophistication”, according to the report, but disclose that increased numbers of staff are leaving the service since Grenfell. There is also increased absence related to anxiety, stress or depression and more than 250 Grenfell-related referrals to in-house counselling and trauma services.

One black firefighter, Gareth Dawes, 40, who contributes to the report, experienced a long history of microaggressions — “the nice racism that comes behind a smile” — before eventually helping to create what he termed a “progressive space” at his fire station where racist, sexist and homophobic language and behaviour would not be tolerated.

After the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of a police officer and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, Dawes had gone to be part of the “cultural change” team at brigade headquarters — but he was left feeling unsupported and isolated.

He alleges he was told that the brigade wanted to prioritise women over black people because “for black people it is just about belonging”. Dawes saw this remark as insulting. His work was downgraded and he felt bullied and pushed out. He eventually resigned.

“We all know as black people that as soon as you raise your head above the parapet your career is done,” he said. He believes the brigade is in a state of denial about its problems.

Sophie, the female firefighter, is also hoping for change. After leaving work, the abuse would continue online, she says. When someone posted a picture of her online, a commenter asked “who’s that f***ing fat pig?”. She received obscene phone calls and messages containing extreme pornography.

Although she says she is not vindictive, she hopes tomorrow’s report will ruin the reputation of the brigade so it can be rebuilt from scratch.

Afzal says many stories he has heard “reinforce the perception that I had about the excellent service they [the LFB] provide”. “During this review, we saw many examples of bravery and dedication to public service,” he writes. Yet he also says his investigation “alerted me to significant concerns”.

“We found dangerous levels of ingrained prejudice against women and the barriers faced by people of colour spoke for themselves,” he adds.

The report makes a series of recommendations, including zero tolerance for workplace bullying, and a review of past complaints and mechanisms to make it safer to report bullying, racism, misogyny and homophobia.

There should also be a cultural audit of all fire stations to assess their risk to firefighters, developing a robust way of measuring brigade culture, ensuring secure facilities for women in stations and recruiting more Londoners, Afzal says.

In future, a “culture dashboard” for the LFB should be set up, using a traffic light system to highlight the worst-offending stations when it comes to “toxic behaviours”.

Reacting to the report last night, the brigade said that from now on anyone accused of discrimination, harassment and bullying will be suspended following a risk assessment and while an investigation takes place. If the accusation is upheld, they will be dismissed. An external complaints service to report bad behaviour has also been introduced, with leaders now undertaking inclusivity training. A mental health hub has also been launched.

Roe said: “This report highlights many issues within the brigade, and it also highlights examples of completely unacceptable behaviour from some of our staff when dealing with the public. These staff jeopardise not just the trust placed in us, but the safety of those who now might be dissuaded from requesting our help.”

He added: “We will challenge poor behaviour and do everything required to rebuild trust with our people and the communities we are here to serve. We will root out the people, systems and behaviours that discriminate against others and let the rest of us down. I know that change can take time, but change starts today.”

The family of Francois-Esprit also believe there is still much work to be done at the brigade. Speaking to The Guardian this summer, his mother Linda said: “We want organisational change in Jaden’s honour so no other employee experiences the trauma which led a healthy vibrant passionate young man at the prime of his life to experience a mental health crisis and untimely death.”

[snickerdoodlles]

just stupid rambling so I'm not annoying friends DMs lalala anyways

been trying to dissect why I'm always so beyond irritated when I see news articles/socmed chatter on AI and I haven't really come to any solid conclusion on it but I think I can kinda boil it down to two things:

first is general misinformation. it's just...so incredibly frustrating to see people wail about the ~threat~ AI poses to our society in conjunction with the huge fake news issues, while also spreading around news articles/essays/etc that are so poorly researched they're basically fake news as well. it's not even hard stuff to fact check! things like AO3 being scraped for AI training data (completely false, there's multiple sources against it but the logic doesn't even track) (isolated issue, but there's a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation on what was scraped for training data period), attempts to conflate the multiple copyright lawsuits as the same thing despite each dealing with different AI tech and sourcing issues (if these cases were similar, they would be linked together, just like the two authors suits were), AI putting 4000 US workers out of jobs in a month (everything references one news article with that headline, but said news article sites one economy report which never states anything of the sort), the general preconception that writers and actors are striking over AI (they're not. they're striking over residuals and lack of pay. AI is a part of discussions as they're covering multiple bases to prevent further exploitation of workers, but that's a distinctly different issue and it's wrong to place a stronger emphasis on AI than the exploitation. AI can't replace writers (though they can't afford the months of studios attempting to replace them with it) and they will want to at least ensure proper compensation for their content being used to train AI if they have to concede that point. there are already strict California state laws protecting individuals right to their image/voice/person, and while protective and preventative measures are currently state legislation and only present in about half the states, there are still federal level protections and precedents for people's right to publicity, and the US Senate is also currently drafting policy that would enact protections against use of personal image/voice/etc, open up more opportunities for recourse for people who have had their images stolen, and enact severe punishments on violators to thoroughly discourage the possibility of abuse. actors don't have to fight for this right in of itself because the LAW already covers them). and there's more than just these, but that last one segways into what is my second but I think bigger complaint:

people seem so like...enamored with the idea of individuals sticking it to the system that they're ignoring the very real systems that can make a difference. like. okay, 1) copyright won't solve AI issues. none of the current cases have the capability of making such a grand change, but that's a long discussion that will just detract from my point. but also 2) a system that's only reactionary is BAD. it shouldn't be on copyright lawsuits (or two worker strikes either for that matter) to stop AI abuse, which is why it's not. there are multiple discussions going on in the US Senate right now to create...a whole battery of preventative measures really, and a system to enact regulate and enforce them. things like extensive safety tests conducted by multiple parties before AIs are released to market, ways to prosecute for deliberate spread of misinformation or abuse of private or copyrighted data, more transparency on training data and engines capabilities, preventing and prosecuting the horrible abuse of outsourced workers (ala OpenAI and the Kenyan workers), better protections for people's personal and private data, ways to protect workers from companies exploiting them via AI, and more. and while what I was reading was the US Senate discussions, there's the emphasis that this has to be a worldwide effort and they're talking to multiple foreign governments. the politicians know they dropped the ball on properly regulating social media, they're sick of AI developer's bullshit excuses too, and they're working hard to do something about it and get ahead of the curve before people get hurt.

and like. besides the fact that it's extremely unfair to put so much pressure on individual cases to fix a systematic issue that's significantly larger and broader than the issue of scraped data, this is literally the way to stop AI abuse. preventative and proactive is far more important than reactionary. this is a way people can act and get involved directly.

I'm just so...annoyed every time I see people complaining that no one's doing anything about regulating AI, when there's a lot of very real and important work getting done. this is a not even slightly hopeless issue! that news is a lie! and sure, it's funny to imagine AI developers being forced to pay out millions or wipe their slates clean, but even if burning things to the ground was an option on the table (...it's probably not btws), it does nothing to address the issue that this tech exists and needs to be regulated to prevent human harm, so it's especially annoying to see so much like...triumph and gloating over lawsuits that haven't even properly begun and so little awareness of the policy work trying to break ground. gah.

also the "AI's detrimental because of fake news" complaints while engaging in apparently zero research or fact checking themselves. I'm extremely irritated over that 🤦

[f1]

FIA says 'due process followed' in employee exit after sexism allegations against president

Mohammed Ben Sulayem was elected president of the FIA in December 2021 The FIA says "due process was followed" in the departure of a former employee after sexism allegations emerged against its president. Shaila-Ann Rao wrote a letter accusing president Mohammed Ben Sulayem of sexist behaviour before her departure last December, the Telegraph reported. Rao was the FIA's former interim secretary general for motorsport, who left after just six months in the role. An FIA spokesperson said Rao left following an "amicable discussion". BBC Sport has been told by a senior source that the letter does exist. Any investigation into whether the president of motorsport's governing body has been guilty of a breach of its code of ethics has to be reviewed by the organisation's Senate, according to the FIA's statutes. Responding to a series of questions from BBC Sport about the specific allegations and Ben Sulayem's wider behaviour arising from the report, the FIA said in a statement: "Due process was followed, with an amicable negotiation conducted by the president of the senate and, as such, no referrals were made to the ethics committee. "As previously stated, both parties agreed she would leave her position in November 2022 and mutual privacy terms were agreed, as is common business practice." Referring to wider allegations of bullying and abusive behaviour by Ben Sulayem, the statement said: "There have been no complaints received against the president." The statement added: "The FIA takes allegations of abuse very seriously and addresses all complaints using robust and clear procedures. "As part of this, the FIA has an anti-harassment policy, an anonymous whistleblowing facility and an investigation procedure and all staff are made aware of these through an induction and regular training." The allegations reported about Rao are the latest in a series of controversies to embroil Ben Sulayem since he became FIA president in December 2021. His first full year in office saw him anger teams and commercial rights holder F1 with his approach to a series of regulatory issues, including blocking for six months a plan to raise the number of 'sprint' events for 2023, and a ban on drivers wearing jewellery which many saw as a targeted attack on Lewis Hamilton. Over the winter, his comments on the value of F1 following a report about a potential sale of the sport led to him receiving a 'cease and desist' letter from F1's lawyers, emphasising that he had no power to intervene in commercial issues and threatening legal action. He was also forced to back-track on a new rule that prevented drivers from speaking out on sensitive issues. And there was widespread outrage in the sport when historic sexist comments emerged from an old website in which Ben Sulayem said he did "not like women who think they are smarter than men… for they are not in truth". The FIA said at that time that the remarks did not reflect his current beliefs. In the wake of the controversies, Ben Sulayem announced that he was stepping back from day-to-day involvement in F1, and set up a new management structure to oversee the FIA's blue-riband category. Ben Sulayem has appointed the FIA's first chief executive officer, Natalie Robyn, a former automotive industry executive, and its first equality, diversity and inclusion advisor, Ukrainian Tanya Kutsenko. The FIA statement added: "As part of the restructuring of the FIA that was initiated by the President and under the leadership of our new CEO, we are actively reviewing the entirety of the FIA organisation with a deliberate and sustained effort to create an excellent culture that fosters collaboration, empowerment, and purpose among our employees. "Should the FIA ethics committee or compliance officer receive any complaint from a member of staff it will be dealt with in a comprehensive manner by our panel of independent elected ethics committee members which has been in place since 2012." via BBC Sport - Formula 1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/

[baileyiscutewithautism]

Filicide is a tragic and horrifying crime that occurs when a parent kills their own child. While this heinous act can happen in any country, Germany has seen its fair share of filicide cases over the years. The reasons behind filicide can vary, from mental illness to financial stress to domestic violence. Regardless of the motive, the impact of filicide on families and communities is devastating.

In Germany, filicide is a rare but not unheard of occurrence. According to a study conducted by the University of Bielefeld, there were 52 cases of filicide in Germany between 1992 and 2012. This averages out to about two cases per year, which may seem low compared to other countries, but each case is a tragedy that leaves a lasting impact on those involved.

One of the most well-known cases of filicide in Germany is that of Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525. In March 2015, Lubitz deliberately crashed the plane into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board, including himself. It was later revealed that Lubitz had a history of mental health issues and had been deemed unfit to fly by his doctors. The investigation into the crash also uncovered that Lubitz had been struggling with personal and professional issues, leading to speculation that his actions were a result of his mental state.

Another high-profile case of filicide in Germany is that of Christiane K., a mother who killed her five children in 2006. Christiane K. was suffering from severe depression and financial difficulties at the time of the murders. She believed that she was protecting her children from a life of poverty and hardship by taking their lives. Christiane K. was sentenced to 15 years in prison for her crimes, but the emotional scars left on her family and the community will last a lifetime.

While these cases are extreme examples of filicide in Germany, they shed light on the complex factors that can lead a parent to commit such a horrific act. Mental illness, financial stress, domestic violence, and other issues can all play a role in pushing someone to the brink of filicide. It is important for society to recognize the warning signs of filicide and to provide support and resources to parents who may be struggling.

In Germany, there are organizations and support groups that work to prevent filicide and support families in crisis. The German Child Protection Association (DKSB) offers counseling and assistance to parents who are experiencing difficulties in raising their children. The DKSB also provides education and training on child abuse prevention and intervention to help parents and caregivers recognize and address potential risks.

Additionally, the German Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (DGfPI) works to raise awareness about the warning signs of child abuse and neglect, including filicide. The DGfPI offers resources and support to parents, caregivers, and professionals who work with children to help prevent cases of filicide and other forms of child abuse.

While filicide is a rare occurrence in Germany, it is a crime that has a profound impact on families, communities, and society as a whole. By addressing the underlying issues that can lead to filicide, such as mental illness, financial stress, and domestic violence, and by providing support and resources to parents in crisis, we can work to prevent these tragic events from happening in the future.

Filicide is a complex and heartbreaking crime that can have far-reaching consequences. By raising awareness, providing support, and working to address the root causes of filicide, we can help prevent these tragedies from occurring and protect the most vulnerable members of our society – our children.

[craigwarme]

Safety Protocols in the NFL

Safety Protocols in the NFL https://ift.tt/U1abtvo Safety protocols in the National Football League (NFL) have evolved significantly over the years to prioritize the well-being and safety of players. The league and its teams have implemented various measures and protocols to mitigate the risks associated with the physical nature of the sport.  Here are some key safety protocols in the NFL: Concussion Protocol:  The NFL has implemented a comprehensive concussion protocol to identify and manage head injuries. If a player shows signs of a concussion, they must undergo a thorough evaluation by an independent medical professional before being cleared to return to play. This protocol helps protect players from the potential long-term effects of head injuries. Equipment Standards:  The NFL enforces strict equipment standards to ensure players have appropriate protective gear. This includes helmets designed to minimize the risk of head injuries and pads and other equipment to protect vital body areas.  Rule Changes:  The NFL continually reviews and modifies rules to enhance player safety. For example, regulations regarding tackling, helmet-to-helmet hits, and defenseless players have been adjusted to reduce the risk of serious injuries. These rule changes aim to promote safer techniques and discourage dangerous plays. In-Game Medical Personnel:  Each NFL game has a team of medical professionals on the sidelines, including certified athletic trainers and team doctors. They are responsible for evaluating injuries, providing immediate medical attention, and deciding players’ ability to continue playing.  Offseason Conditioning and Training Programs:  NFL teams prioritize offseason conditioning and training programs to prepare players physically for the demands of the sport. These programs focus on strength and conditioning, injury prevention, and maintaining overall fitness. Ensuring players are in optimal physical condition can reduce the risk of injuries. Player Safety Initiatives:  The NFL has launched initiatives to educate players, coaches, and officials about safety and proper techniques. These initiatives include instructional videos, seminars, and workshops to promote safe play and minimize the risk of injuries. Injury Data Collection and Analysis:  The NFL collects and analyzes injury data to identify trends and patterns that inform future safety protocols. This data-driven approach helps the league make informed decisions regarding rule changes, equipment improvements, and player safety initiatives. Heat and Hydration Guidelines:  The NFL has guidelines to address the risks associated with playing in hot weather conditions. These guidelines include monitoring heat index levels during practices and games, providing ample water breaks, and implementing cooling measures to prevent heat-related illnesses. Substance Abuse and PED Testing:  The NFL has a comprehensive substance abuse policy and conducts regular testing to deter performance-enhancing drug (PEDs) use. These measures aim to protect players’ health and maintain the integrity of the game. Ongoing Research and Collaboration:  The NFL collaborates with medical experts, researchers, and organizations to advance player safety. This includes funding research initiatives, supporting studies on brain injuries, and seeking input from medical professionals to inform policy decisions. While the NFL has made significant strides in player safety, the league prioritizes ongoing research, technology advancements, and collaboration to enhance safety protocols. By implementing and enforcing these measures, the NFL aims to create a safer playing environment for its athletes and protect their long-term health and well-being. The post Safety Protocols in the NFL first appeared on Craig Warme | Sports. via Craig Warme | Sports https://craigwarme.com May 19, 2024 at 01:45PM

[certvalue8]

SA 8000 Certification in monaco

SA 8000 Certification in Monaco, as a social accountability standard, addresses several core elements crucial for promoting ethical and responsible practices within organizations. These core elements encompass various aspects of social responsibility, human rights, fair labor practices, and workplace conditions. The key core elements of social accountability addressed by SA 8000 include:

Child Labor: SA 8000 prohibits the use of child labor, ensuring that organizations do not employ children below the age of 15 (or 14 where the law permits) or engage in any hazardous work that may jeopardize their health, safety, or education. This provision aims to protect children's rights to education, development, and a safe childhood.

Forced Labor: The standard prohibits any form of forced or compulsory labor, including bonded labor, prison labor, and indentured labor. Organizations must ensure that all employment is voluntary, and workers are not subjected to coercion, deception, or exploitation in any form.

Health and Safety: SA 8000 requires organizations to provide a safe and healthy working environment for all employees, free from recognized hazards that may cause injury, illness, or harm. This includes identifying and assessing workplace risks, implementing preventive measures, providing training and protective equipment, and establishing procedures for incident reporting and emergency response.

Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining: The standard recognizes workers' rights to join trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and participate in workers' associations without fear of retaliation or discrimination. Organizations must respect workers'SA 8000 Certification Services in Monaco freedom of association and refrain from interfering with their rights to organize and bargain collectively.

Discrimination: SA 8000 prohibits discrimination in employment based on factors such as race, gender, age, religion, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or political affiliation. Organizations must ensure equal opportunities for all employees and eliminate discriminatory practices in recruitment, hiring, promotion, and termination.

Disciplinary Practices: The standard requires organizations to establish fair and transparent disciplinary procedures that respect the dignity and rights of workers. Disciplinary actions should be proportionate to the offense, applied consistently, and documented appropriately to prevent abuse or unfair treatment.

Working Hours: SA 8000 sets limits on working hours to prevent excessive overtime and ensure a reasonable work-life balance for employees. Organizations must comply with applicable laws and industry standards regarding working hours, breaks, and rest periods to protect workers' health, well-being, and productivity.

Compensation: The standard requires organizations to provide fair and living wages to all employees, ensuring that wages are sufficient to meet basic needs and provide for a decent standard of living. This includes regular payment of wages, overtime compensation, and benefits such as health insurance and retirement plans to support workers' financial security and social well-being.

By addressing these core elements of social accountability, SA 8000 Certification Process in Monaco aims to promote ethical conduct, respect for human rights, and responsible business practices within organizations. Compliance with SA 8000 standards demonstrates a commitment to social responsibility, employee welfare, and sustainable development, contributing to a more equitable and inclusive society.

How to Obtain SA 8000 Certification in Monaco

For businesses seeking  SA 8000 Certification in Monaco, the process involves pre-assessment, documentation review, on-site audit, corrective actions, certification issuance, and ongoing surveillance to ensure sustained compliance.

 For certification services, contact Certvalue through www.certvalue.com or contact@certvalue.com or call at 91+6361529370 . Certvalue also offers ISO certifications, including ISO 9001, 27001, HALAL, ROHS, GMP, HACCP, 14001, 27701, SA 8000, 45001, 22000, 22301, 50001, 37001, and 13485 in Monaco.

ISO 9001 Certification in Sri Lanka

ISO 14001 Certification in egypt

ISO 22000 Certification in cambodia

ISO 27001 Certification in Ghana

ISO 13485 Certification in Nepal

[arjunsingh66]

Arjun Singh: Exploring the Revolutionary Role of AI in Financial Investment

With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, its application in the field of financial investment has garnered widespread attention. Arjun Singh of Singer Finance Academy points out that the recent launch of an AI advisory product by JPMorgan Chase – IndexGPT – not only signifies a new height of technological innovation but also foreshadows the future direction of the financial services industry. Utilizing advanced AI analysis tools, IndexGPT provides customized investment recommendations to investors, a trend that could potentially alter the traditional investment decision-making process.

Combining AI with Financial Product Innovation

Arjun Singh believes that the introduction of IndexGPT by JPMorgan Chase represents a significant advancement of AI technology in financial product innovation. This product utilizes OpenAI is GPT-4 model to conduct data analysis and security selection tailored to the specific needs of investors. By automatically generating thematic indices such as cloud computing and esports, IndexGPT can identify and invest in a basket of stocks based on emerging trends. This application of technology not only enhances the efficiency of investment decision-making but also increases market diversity and complexity.

Arjun Singh further analyzes that this application of AI demonstrates tremendous potential, especially in handling large volumes of data and conducting complex calculations. However, it also brings new challenges, such as ensuring algorithm transparency and fairness, and managing potential financial risks triggered by AI. As warned by Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, the widespread adoption of AI investment may lead to new risks to market stability, triggering so-called "herd effects" that could potentially precipitate financial collapses.

Ethical and Regulatory Challenges of AI Investment Advisers

Arjun Singh proposes that as AI technology increasingly permeates the financial markets, its ethical and regulatory issues are becoming increasingly apparent. From the perspective of AI advisory services, Arjun Singh points out that while the efficiency and precision of the technology bring significant market advantages, it must also confront serious challenges such as algorithmic bias and data security. For example, if algorithm models are trained on biased historical data, they may exacerbate market unfairness.

Arjun Singh emphasizes that addressing these challenges requires the construction of more stringent regulatory frameworks. Regulatory bodies should strengthen scrutiny of AI investment products, ensuring their operations are transparent and monitoring their market impacts to prevent potential market abuses. Meanwhile, fintech companies need to collaborate with regulatory agencies to ensure that technological innovations proceed without compromising market fairness and stability.

Prospects of AI in Future Financial Markets

Arjun Singh analyzes that with the continuous advancement and proliferation of AI technology, its role in the financial markets is expected to further expand. In the future, AI may not only provide investment advice but also play significant roles in risk management, market forecasting, and customer service. Further integration of AI is expected to bring higher market efficiency and more precise investment strategies, but it also requires concerted efforts from financial market participants, regulatory bodies, and technology developers to ensure the rational and safe use of technology.

While AI technology brings enormous opportunities, it also comes with risks. For example, technological dependencies may lead to overly concentrated markets, increasing systemic risks. Additionally, the decision-making processes and algorithmic complexity of AI may challenge market transparency. Therefore, Arjun Singh emphasizes that future financial markets require smarter regulatory strategies and continued attention to technological ethics and compliance.

Finally, Arjun Singh proposes that all stakeholders in the financial industry should collectively explore and formulate global standards for AI applications to promote the healthy development and widespread adoption of technology. Through this approach, the positive impact of AI in financial markets can be maximized while controlling and mitigating potential risks.

[basicsofislam]

BASICS OF ISLAM: Fasting: On Fasting&Self-control.Part1

Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic lunar calendar. It is a special month of the year for over one billion Muslims throughout the world.

It is sometimes referred to as the “Sultan of the 11 months.” During this month healthy adult Muslims fast, from the break of dawn until sunset. Fasting requires abstinence from eating, drinking, and intercourse during the daylight hours; that is, about an hour and a half before sunrise until sunset. An early breakfast is recommended in the prophetic tradition, taken before dawn. At the end of the day the fast is broken with a meal called the iftar. It is the prophetic tradition to break the fast with a date, olive or some water.

Ramadan is a time of intensive worship and devotion to God, of reading the Qur’an and reflecting on its teachings, of comprehensive thanksgiving, giving to charity, practicing self-control and kindness, of training oneself to be a better person spiritually and improving relationships with others.

Fasting is not that difficult

To non-Muslims fasting in Ramadan may appear to be a time of hardship and deprivation, but that is not the experience of Muslims. There are at least five ameliorating factors that make fasting much easier than it appears.

These are :

the magic of intention

the community spirit

the ability of the human body to adapt

social/cultural cooperation

divine help

The initial intention significantly reduces the perceived difficulty. Once one commits to fasting, it becomes much more doable and feasible. Knowing and seeing that fellow believers are fasting with you and sharing the early breakfast or the dinner with them strengthens the community spirit. Thirdly, the human body is amazingly adaptable. Within the first few days of fasting the body adapts to the new schedule and one does not feel hunger as one normally would. In communities where Muslims are a majority or a significant minority, there is assistance or cooperation offered to the fasters, such as flexible holidays and working hours. Finally, for any worshipper, there is divine help which eases the task once the worshipper has committed to doing it.

Over 500 million Muslims, from age 9 to 90 fast every year. Fasting does not prevent them from conducting their mundane work or business as usual. As a pillar of the religious life in Islam, fasting is probably the most practiced form of worship. Muslims think of Ramadan as a kind of tune-up for their spiritual lives.

The four dimensions of Ramadan

As the third “pillar,” or religious duty in Islam, fasting has many dimensions:

the behavioral dimension

the religious dimension

the social dimension

the spiritual dimension

The first is the obvious behavioral dimension. Fasting in Ramadan is a means of learning self-control. Due to a lack of preoccupation with the satisfaction of bodily appetites during the daylight hours when fasting, the spirit gains a measure of ascendancy. The soul is freed of the chains placed by carnal desires. Fasting provides a break in the cycle of rigid habits or overindulgence.

During fasting, not only the stomach, but also the tongue, eyes, ears, other limbs, and the heart and mind are equally obligated to be restrained. Just as we control our physical appetites, we also must control our negative emotions and actions. The Messenger of Islam, Muhammad, peace be upon him, expressed that fasting is not only restraining from food and drink, but that it also means refraining from impious acts. He said that if a person does not control their senses and behavior, then God does not require that person to refrain from eating. He added that if someone verbally abuses you, acts ignorantly towards you, or even hurts you, you should respond by only saying, “I am fasting; I am indeed fasting.”

According to the masters of Sufism, the spiritual dimension of Islam, not only one’s organs, but also one’s thoughts and feelings need to be tightly controlled during this month.

[vosdcharity]

Stray Dogs Are Our Shared Social Responsibility

Often, stray dogs are viewed negatively, regarded as a menace or a threat. Isolated incidents of dog bites have fueled a perception that all stray dogs are dangerous. However, it’s important to remember that dogs usually bite only when provoked, feeling unwell, or in pain. According to a study by The American College of Veterinary Behaviorists published in Psychology Today, dogs might even prefer to avoid physical interaction. Despite this, dogs are naturally expressive and social animals, keen to communicate with us if we pay attention.

A Grave Misunderstanding

In 2016, an extreme response to stray dogs in Kerala led to widespread culling, which was reported by Scroll.in. Such actions amount to nothing less than mass murder and are certainly not a solution to managing stray dog populations. Like humans, stray dogs deserve to live with dignity and peace.

Why Does Abuse Happen?

Attacks on stray dogs often occur out of retaliation or fear. Renowned psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, in his book ‘The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness’, discusses the uniquely destructive tendencies of humans, far surpassing any aggressive behavior seen in the animal world. He points out that unlike most animals, humans can be exceptionally cruel and aggressive.

Debunking Common Myths

Untrustworthy Animals: Despite over 15,000 years of companionship, some still believe that dogs, especially strays, are untrustworthy. Yet, research, including studies highlighted by National Geographic, shows that even untrained, homeless dogs can understand human gestures and emotions.

Carriers of Disease: It’s a common misconception that all stray dogs carry diseases like rabies. While caution is necessary, not all strays are infected, and responsible vaccination can mitigate these risks.

Stories That Shape Perceptions

There’s a disconnect when people adore their pets but fear strays, driven by viral social media stories of aggressive dogs. Before accepting such stories at face value, it’s critical to question the context — why was the incident recorded instead of intervened?

A Constructive Path Forward

Implementing Safe Sterilization Programs

It’s essential for municipal bodies to manage stray populations humanely through sterilization, which should be conducted respectfully by trained professionals and monitored by panels including animal welfare advocates.

Respecting Community Feeders and Volunteers

Feeding strays helps build trust, making it easier to manage vaccinations and sterilizations. Community efforts to care for strays should be supported rather than hindered.

Animal Cruelty Is Unacceptable

Treating animals cruelly only perpetuates violence. Instead, treating strays with kindness can foster a positive cycle of trust and affection.

Upholding Animal Rights

Stray dogs have coexisted with humans for millennia. Legal frameworks like the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2001, support their welfare and mandate humane treatment.

The Role of Citizens

As per a landmark ruling by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2019, animals are entitled to rights akin to humans. This judgment emphasized the duty of every citizen to ensure the welfare and protection of animals.

Actions You Can Take

Report Abuse: If you witness animal abuse, it’s crucial to intervene and report the incident to authorities.

Provide Shelter: If possible, allow stray dogs to rest in spaces near your home.

Adopt a Stray: Consider adopting a stray dog instead of buying a breed. Strays are equally capable of loyalty and companionship.

Conclusion

While stray dogs may not enjoy the comforts that house pets do, they are adaptable and responsive to human kindness. A little empathy and respect can significantly reduce conflicts and make the world a more harmonious place for all living beings. Let’s strive to make our planet a peaceful home for every creature, fostering an environment of mutual respect and kindness.

VOSD Charity https://www.vosd.charity

[vognsensvenningsen58]

How To Be The Best Pet Owner Around Town

Whenever you implement a pet dog, one never knows what you're going to get. Like a pack of chocolates, each and every puppy is different. Having said that, there are a few things they share, such as unconditional love. To create your pet the ideal he could be, you must be the ideal operator, so look at the suggestions listed below. Think about instructing your puppy palm impulses in addition to verbal orders. Consistency and employ are key to instructing a pet dog these non-oral orders. Many users get irritated and holiday resort back to verbal directions, but a well-qualified dog must comprehend each. Try using only spoken orders when the puppy has run out of eyesight array, however when near up, just use the fingers impulses. Groom your dog regularly. A dog requires constant proper grooming to help keep his coat in great issue. Make sure that your canine is completely peaceful before you begin the proper grooming treatment this is particularly essential if he or she is excitable. Keep your program really quick (5 to 10 minutes at many) until he is more comfortable with the thought of getting groomed. Most importantly - make sure you compliments him and provide a treat after a profitable proper grooming period! Never ever hit your puppy. You can find good ways to train a dog without needing to turn to abuse. The best way to workout a dog is to strengthen positive actions with snacks and consideration. Unfavorable conduct must be taken care of with a stern and disapproving speech in contrast to hitting your pet. It is necessary that you can get your puppy into begin to see the vet on the relatively regular basis. The same as people, puppies can produce health issues like toothaches, joint inflammation and excess weight. Usually do not hold off until you feel your pet dog is unwell before you take him in to be noticed. Prevent impersonating a medical doctor in relation to your dog's health. In an effort to save money, many individuals try and identify their pet's circumstances or use man therapies on numerous aspects and which can be really dangerous to the animal. Should you can't afford full veterinary clinic proper care, explain to that on the medical professional and ask their assistance in any case or maybe they might arrange a repayment schedule for yourself. Should you not possess any hearing solution remedy available, you can use a baby wash alternatively. Simply cover it across the tip of your finger and clean the inside the ear's surface area. Only go as far as your finger can simply match. Will not use Q-suggestions because they can injure the ear. Be sure to supply your pet with fondness consistently. Proprietors are likely to concentrate on the unhealthy occasions, not the best. Which could suggest difficulty in the future along with your canine. Quite, be sure to give admiration five times more frequently than you reprimand. This makes them delighted when close to you. The patches of your own dog's toes can be dried out and cracked, so make certain you moisturize them regularly. Ask the vet for advice on which product or service to use. Stay away from moisturizers which are meant for people, because they can make the pads also smooth along with your puppy could get injured. Remember the manifestation "A lot of cooks spoil the soups" when education your dog. Everybody has their own techniques, and encountering a number of them can abandon your pooch perplexed. As a result, ensure that just one person is carrying out the practice. Other men and women should only strengthen the person's rules and put by them. Take your dogs on their scheduled appointments. In case your puppy is regularly examined by its veterinarian, they'll have the capacity to find such things as diabetic issues or kidney issues before they grow into an important concern. It's advisable to acquire your puppy for twelve-monthly physical, because that may be the easiest method to make sure that there aren't an things that have gone undiagnosed for a long period. Ultimately, you are going to save money. Ensure that you hold small totes and mitts along with you while you are out jogging your dog. If he uses the restroom outside, it can be your duty to clean up the mess. It is actually unsanitary so that you can let it sit there, and yes it some places you might acquire hefty fees for your. Should you be thinking of getting a canine, it is essential that you choose a bread wisely. For example, in case you have children, sizeable vicious canines will not be a wise idea. Or, if you live inside an condominium, small types may be much better. Choose a puppy that works well effectively with the life-style. You should buy a high quality collar and ID label together with your tackle on it. Go with a robust collar which is modified to the size of your dog. You must be able to effortlessly in shape two hands and fingers inside the collar. Make sure you update the Identification tag should you get a whole new telephone number. Be considerate about breeding your puppy. Repeated breeding of the female can evetually cause serious health problems for both the canine and also the puppies that may be given birth to from her. If you intend to dog breed be sure you shop around first to be able to be sure that you are doing the right thing for your wildlife.

Your puppy would be wise to gain access to fresh water. It is best to have a container full of water where by your pet can entry it or invest in a little drinking fountain for your personal pet. If you need to leave your pet dog by yourself for long hrs, so not leave a lot more normal water than your puppy requirements. If you're considering presenting trick instructions for your canine, make sure that you have very first taken care of all of the basic orders, such as stay, lay out, keep, are available. Despite the fact that technique orders are enjoyable and enjoyable, possessing a nicely mannered pet is far more helpful. Developing a pet "keep" when inquired will be more fulfilling than possessing a puppy "enjoy lifeless." If french bulldog litter size want your dog who enjoys you just as much as you love him, you have to deal with him the right way. When you know what must be done to achieve this top level of proper care, you're good to go. Reading this post was the first step, so move on to step two: starting while using advice!

[shreejan123]

NGO Services in Delhi NCR

NGO services in Delhi NCR

Understanding the Role of NGOs

NGOs play a pivotal role in addressing social, economic, and environmental challenges that often go unaddressed by government agencies or private enterprises. They operate independently of the government and are driven by a mission to create positive change in society. In Delhi NCR, NGOs are involved in a wide array of activities, including but not limited to:

Education and Skill Development: Many NGOs in Delhi NCR focus on providing quality education and skill development programs to underprivileged children and youth. These initiatives aim to break the cycle of poverty by equipping individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to secure better opportunities in the future.

Healthcare and Sanitation: Access to healthcare and sanitation remains a significant challenge for many residents of Delhi NCR. NGOs are working to bridge this gap by providing medical services, promoting hygiene awareness, and implementing sanitation projects in urban slums and rural areas.

Women Empowerment: Gender inequality persists in various aspects of society, particularly in Delhi NCR. NGOs are actively engaged in empowering women and girls through education, vocational training, advocacy for women's rights, and support for survivors of domestic violence and trafficking.

Environmental Conservation: With rapid urbanization and industrialization, environmental degradation has become a pressing issue in Delhi NCR. NGOs are leading efforts to conserve natural resources, promote sustainable practices, and raise awareness about the importance of environmental protection among communities and policymakers.

Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation: Natural disasters and man-made crises can have devastating consequences for communities in Delhi NCR. NGOs play a crucial role in providing emergency relief, shelter, food, and long-term rehabilitation support to affected populations.

NGO Initiatives in Delhi NCR

Let's explore some exemplary initiatives undertaken by NGOs in Delhi NCR across various sectors:

Pratham: Pratham is one of the largest NGOs in India dedicated to improving the quality of education for underprivileged children. In Delhi NCR, Pratham operates several programs, including Read India, which focuses on enhancing reading and literacy skills among primary school students.

SEWA Bharat: SEWA Bharat is a federation of Self-Employed Women's Associations (SEWAs) working towards the economic empowerment of women in the informal sector. In Delhi NCR, SEWA Bharat supports women artisans, street vendors, and domestic workers through skill development training, access to finance, and advocacy for their rights.

Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses (SPYM): SPYM is committed to addressing issues related to substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, and youth development. In Delhi NCR, SPYM runs de-addiction centers, conducts awareness campaigns on HIV prevention, and provides vocational training to at-risk youth.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE): CSE is an environmental research and advocacy organization working towards sustainable development. In Delhi NCR, CSE focuses on air and water pollution, waste management, and promoting renewable energy solutions through research, policy advocacy, and public awareness campaigns.

Goonj: Goonj is a social enterprise that addresses clothing and other basic needs of marginalized communities while also promoting rural development. In Delhi NCR, Goonj collects and distributes essential items to vulnerable populations and implements community development projects in partnership with local stakeholders.

Impact and Challenges

The impact of NGO services in Delhi NCR is significant, with thousands of lives positively affected through their interventions. From improving literacy rates to promoting sustainable livelihoods, NGOs have played a crucial role in driving social change in the region. However, they also face numerous challenges, including:

Funding Constraints: Many NGOs rely on external funding from donors, grants, and corporate partnerships to sustain their operations. However, securing adequate funding remains a constant challenge, especially for smaller organizations with limited resources.

Bureaucratic Hurdles: Complex regulatory requirements and bureaucratic procedures can hinder the effectiveness of NGO activities in Delhi NCR. Obtaining licenses, permissions, and approvals from government authorities often leads to delays and administrative burdens.

Capacity Building: Building the capacity of staff and volunteers is essential for NGOs to deliver high-quality services effectively. However, limited access to training resources and professional development opportunities can impede organizational growth and impact.

Socio-political Environment: NGOs in Delhi NCR operate within a complex socio-political landscape characterized by diverse interests, power dynamics, and ideological differences. Negotiating these complexities while maintaining integrity and independence can pose significant challenges.

Future Prospects

Despite the challenges, the future of NGO services in Delhi NCR looks promising. As the region continues to undergo rapid urbanization and socio-economic transformation, the role of NGOs in addressing emerging issues and fostering inclusive development will become even more crucial. Collaborative partnerships between NGOs, government agencies, businesses, and communities can lead to innovative solutions and sustainable impact.

In conclusion, NGOs play a vital role in promoting social justice, equity, and sustainable development in Delhi NCR. Through their diverse initiatives and tireless efforts, they are making a tangible difference in the lives of millions of people across the region. As we look towards the future, let us continue to support and collaborate with these organizations to build a more inclusive and prosperous society for all residents of Delhi NCR.

[malenadelolmo]

Global Awareness Initiative: Substance Abuse in Latin America

Focusing on Latin America in efforts to address the substance abuse epidemic is crucial due to several factors that make the region particularly vulnerable. Firstly, Latin America serves as a major transit route for illegal drugs destined for global markets, exposing its populations to high levels of drug trafficking and availability. Additionally, socioeconomic disparities, political instability, and historical patterns of violence have contributed to social divide and lack of access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, exacerbating the risk factors associated with substance abuse. Furthermore, cultural norms and attitudes towards drug use, combined with limited resources for prevention and treatment, create a challenging environment for addressing the problem effectively. Therefore, prioritizing Latin America in global awareness initiatives is essential to addressing the root causes of substance abuse and promoting sustainable solutions that benefit the region and beyond.

Creating a multi-faceted global awareness initiative to address the substance abuse epidemic in Latin America requires a holistic approach including online campaigns, community engagement, and educational outreach, and cross-border collaboration.

Online Campaigns:

Social Media Awareness: Develop content for platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to raise awareness about substance abuse in Latin America. Utilize visually appealing graphics and videos to engage a wide audience to teach about the dangers of substance abuse, including statistics, personal stories of recovery, and resources for help.

Influencer Partnerships: Collaborate with social media influencers and celebrities with a significant following in Latin America to amplify the reach of the campaign.

Online Forums and Q&A Sessions: Organize virtual forums and live Q&A sessions on platforms like Reddit or Discord, featuring experts in addiction treatment, mental health, and public policy. Encourage participants to ask questions and share their experiences.

Digital Resources: Create a website or mobile app where people can access information, find treatment facilities, and connect with support groups and helplines

Community Engagement:

Support Groups: Establish support groups and recovery communities in towns across Latin America. This will provide a safe space for individuals struggling with substance abuse to share their experiences and receive encouragement.

Community Workshops: Organize workshops and training sessions for community leaders, educators, and healthcare professionals on topics such as addiction awareness, stigma reduction, and harm reduction strategies.

Street Outreach Programs: Conduct outreach activities in urban areas, public parks, and even homeless shelters to reach vulnerable populations affected by substance abuse. Distribute educational materials, hygiene kits, and information about support services.

Neighborhood Events: Host events such as sports tournaments and cultural festivals that promote healthy living and provide opportunities for community members to learn about substance abuse prevention and treatment options.

Educational Outreach:

Schools: Work with schools to integrate drug education into curriculums. Provide teachers with training and resources to effectively teach students about the risks associated with drug abuse and the importance of making healthy choices.

Parent Education Workshops: Organize workshops for parents to increase their awareness of substance abuse issues, recognize warning signs, and learn effective communication strategies with their children. Provide resources for seeking help and support.

Public Awareness Campaigns: Launch public service announcements (PSAs) on television, radio, and billboards to communicate key messages about the dangers of drug abuse and where to seek help. These campaigns should be culturally sensitive and tailored to the diverse populations within Latin America.

Cross-Border Collaboration:

Regional Partnerships: Encourage collaboration among governments, NGOs, and international organizations working on substance abuse prevention and treatment in Latin America. Share best practices, resources, and data to strengthen regional efforts.

Information Sharing: Establish a database or online platform where organizations can access up-to-date information on substance abuse trends, treatment practices, and available resources across Latin America

By implementing this multi-faceted global awareness initiative, we can work towards reducing the prevalence of substance abuse in Latin America and promoting healthier, drug-free communities.