Project: Women in Focus “The experience of a group of women who have suffered violence at the hands of their partners, use photography and storytelling as a therapeutic tool.”

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to share the experience gained by the “Women In Focus” (Proyecto Enfocadas) project in Madrid (Spain) which was organised by a department of the city council which serves victims of domestic violence. The target group of the project was 10 women who in the past had experienced violence from their partners and the project describes how they recovered from this situation through therapy. They participated in 17 group workshops which used photography and writing. The objectives of these workshops tended to promote artistic creation, personal development, the integration of their life histories and the development of self-esteem and empowerment by giving a collective voice to the participants. Consideration was given in the second stage to the raising of awareness about the issue of gender violence through the message of the participants and on prevention through samples of their artistic work. The objective of this paper is to investigate the use of photography and storytelling as a therapeutic tool, showing significant moments of the group process and results of the process in the voice of the protagonists.