The members of the scientific club “Philology” led by Anna Pavelieva (PhD in Philology, Associate Professor of Germanic Philology and Translation Department of National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”) chose a very difficult topic for discussion – domestic violence, physical and emotional suffering, blackmail, internet threats, work-place violence and bullying in educational institutions.
According to Anna Pavelieva, Head of the Club, the topic was not chosen randomly. With each passing year the statistics of discrimination towards the least protected groups of people – women, children, youth, the elderly – is growing rapidly: “We decided to openly discuss the problems that are often kept secret in the society. They will not go away if we don’t speak about, because they require a complex discussion and solution. The discussion was held in English, so translation students could listen to the important information and learn specialized vocabulary at the same time. The youth often do not know what hides behind the terms like “violence”, “brutality”, “gender-based violence”, “gender equality”, “domestic violence”, “bullying” etc.”
“We presented about incredibly important problems during the meeting,” Iryna Lobko, a forth-year student of Faculty of Humanities, permanent member of the scientific club, said. “It turned out there were certain features in people’s conduct that could show the possibility of violent behaviour, some signs that should be noticed by relatives and friends. While preparing my report about gender-based violence, I found numbers that were just shocking to me. For example, did you know that one in three women in the world has experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence at least once in her life, and 38% of all murders of women are committed by their intimate partners? Those are the problems that should not be silenced. On the contrary, they should be discussed at schools, higher education institutions, in mass media and social networks. Besides, it is extremely important to raise the question of ratifying the Istanbul Convention in the Ukrainian government.”
The members of the club prepared reports and presentations, shared their thoughts on the topics, and discussed the ways of preventing and responding to violence. Teachers provided the hot line numbers, talked about the #ЯнеБоюсьСказати flashmob in Ukrainian social media (inspired by the MeToo movement) and the literature project for social action “ПРОти НАСильства” (“Against the Violence”).
“Despite the rapid development of modern technologies and the modernization of our society, the world still has taboos, stigmatized topics. According to the statistic data of world organizations for preventing domestic violence, introducing gender equality and fighting human trafficing, one in two people in the world has suffered from at least one type of violence, and the numbers have been increasing quickly since the beginning of the lockdown. That is why it is so important to spread awareness among students about the types and signs of violence, and the ways to help those who suffer from it,” Tetiana Kushnirova, Doctor of Philology, Professor of Germanic Philology and Translation Department of National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” commented.
Students of the Faculty of Humanities eagerly join the discussions of the scientific club. Particularly, previous meetings were focused on the influence of Romanticism on the world culture and the influence of a medieval poet on the development of the English language.
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National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”
