WAVE’s mission is to enable all women and their children to live free from violence, particularly through strengthening and sustaining a European network of women’s specialized support and prevention services, experts and survivors; to share expertise and experience to prevent, challenge, address and ultimately end male violence against women and their children, through an intersectional feminist approach.
Find out more about WAVE’s structure on this page:
Our Work
WAVE’s core work consists of the following three areas:
Capacity Building
Through trainings, mutual learning exchanges, webinars, study visits, conferences and partnership projects, we are strengthening the capacities of our members so they can support women and children to live free from violence.
Advocacy
We advocate and campaign for better legislation and implementation of existing legislation to tackle violence against women and for sufficient funding for women’s specialist services.
Research
Through data collection and analysis about women’s specialist support services in 46 countries, we identify gaps and barriers in support services and the implementation of the Istanbul Convention.
Projects
In addition to the core work, WAVE partners regulary with members in European and international projects.
HELPLINES
HELPLINES strengthens specialised women’s helplines across Europe through common quality standards, mutual learning, training and advocacy. WAVE leads the project’s advocacy work package and contributes its European network expertise to increase recognition and support for women’s helplines.
CSSP
The Civil Society Strengthening Platform strengthens women’s voices and agency, including women from disadvantaged marginalized groups, at a regional level, in six countries of the Western Balkans and Türkiye.
Preventing and responding to gender-based violence during the war and in post-war settings
WAVE launched a new project in collaboration with OSCE to improve the support survivors of violence and civil society organizations (CSOs) in conflict and post-conflict areas.
Safeguarding and Empowering Children
The project “Safeguarding and Empowering Children” aims to secure that children are safe and can thrive whilst their mothers get supported by women’s specialist services and once they are ready to move on to a new life.
TAVAM – Together Against Violence in Austria and Moldova
This project aims to strengthen the capacity of Moldovan women’s specialist services and to advance the transfer of knowledge between Austrian and Moldovan organisations.
VIPROM – Victim Protection in Medicine
This project aims to provide sustainable, organisationally embedded, and institutionally recognised training tailored to the specific needs of various medical professionals from different medical fields.
MARVOW
Abuse of older women is perhaps the most underdeveloped of all aspects of support services for gender-based violence in Europe. The MARVOW project develops and implements a multiagency cooperation model for working with elderly victims of abuse.
FAQ
What is WAVE?
WAVE stands for Women Against Violence Europe and is a non-profit, non-governmental feminist network organisation working in the area of combating violence against women. More precisely, WAVE is the largest European network of Women’s Specialist Services (WSS)1, representing more than 1,600 women’s organisations through over 180 members based in 46 European countries. Since its foundation in 1994, WAVE has been working to promote and strengthen the human rights of women and children in general, and to prevent violence against women and children in particular. The WAVE Network is the only network which dedicates its work solely to the prevention and combating of violence against women and girls.
WAVE’s central office is located in Vienna, Austria, coordinating the network’s operations, advocacy, research, and capacity building, and supporting collaboration among members and external partners.
How did WAVE get started?
WAVE was established in 1994. The original idea to found the network can be traced back to a number of international events.
It all began in 1993
The widening of transnational cooperation began with the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, Austria, in 1993. This conference established that acts of violence committed against women constituted human rights violations. These violations related to the violation of right to live a life free from violence and the right to freedom from fear and coercion. The conference’s final document, the Vienna Declaration, defines violence against women as a human rights violation and calls on states to take steps to prevent it. This success must be attributed to the active role which international women’s organisations played in the conference. One of the most important events of the conference agenda was the ‘Global Tribunal for Women’s Human Rights’. For a full day, women reported on their experiences of violence to government delegates and to international committee of experts. Following the conference, in December 1993, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. In the spring of 1994, the post of Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women was established at the Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Radhika Coomaraswamy from Sri Lanka was appointed to the post.
WAVE is established in 1994
In October 1994, the European and North American Preparatory meeting for the 4th United Nations Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) took place in Vienna, Austria. European NGOs working in the field of violence against women took an active part in the conference, setting up a working group on ‘Violence and Human Rights Violations against Women’. It was during the meeting that a group of women working in women’s shelters and organisations working at combating violence put forward the idea of establishing a European network on violence against women, as a means of strengthening the feminist movement across Europe. This was believed to enable women’s organisations to collaborate and cooperate, to gain more influence and to more effectively fight for women’s rights and to promote the prevention and combating of violence against women on a European level.
WAVE and the 4th United Nations World Conference on Women in 1995
In the course of the 4th United Nations World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, PRC, in September 1995, progress was made in the formation of the European network. Its initiators ran a working group under the support of the NGO Forum, thus giving a wide public access to information on this undertaking.
The World Conference on Women marked a further step in combating violence against women. Measures against violence constituted one of the priorities in the Action Platform, the final document of the World Conference on Women. It contains a large number of recommendations and measures to prevent violence to be implemented by the member states. In the course of the World Conference on Women, the WAVE founding group held its constituent session. The group’s members included: Niamh Wilson of Irish Women’s Aid, Ebon Kram of the Swedish Women’s Shelters Network ROKS, Urszula Nowakowska of the Centrum Praw Kobiet (Women’s Rights Centre) in Warsaw, Marianne Cense of TransAct in the Netherlands, Lepa Mladjenovic of the SOS Hotline in Belgrade, and Rosa Logar of the Austrian Women’s Shelter Network (Verein der Autonomen Österreichischen Frauenhäuser).
First network working session in 1996
The first working session of the WAVE founding members took place in Utrecht, Netherlands, in October 1996. The meeting was financed by the participants themselves and/or their organisations. The agenda covered an initial definition of the network’s objectives and working principles, a discussion of goals and sources of funding, and the organisation of a European-level WAVE conference. At the beginning, the network was referred to as the Information Centre against Violence. The Eastern European delegates expressed their desire to form an Eastern European women’s projects against violence within the WAVE Network to serve the purpose of networking, because the background conditions and structures pertaining to their work differed markedly from those relating to the work of women’s organisations in Western Europe.
The international conference on ‘Women, Violence and Citizenship’
WAVE made an active contribution to the international conference on ‘Women, Violence and Citizenship’, held in Brighton, United Kingdom, in November 1996. During the conference, WAVE organised two working groups with an emphasis on introducing and enlarging the network, and additionally distributed its first folder and sought organisations to join the network.
Information meeting for WAVE members and international delegates
The first meeting took place in Vienna at the Intervention Centre against Domestic Violence on the 4th of December 1996.
First European ‘Daphne’ Project in 1997
The Vienna Information Centre against Violence assumed much of the responsibility for the network’s coordination and set about raising funds. Following the ‘4th World Conference on Women’ in Beijing in 1995, the European Commission began the ‘Daphne’ Initiative, supporting transnational projects aimed at preventing and combating violence against women and children. The WAVE Network successfully applied for funding and on the premises of the Information Office against Violence in Vienna, the WAVE coordination office was set up. The first WAVE conference took place in the year 1997 in Belgrade, Serbia.
Since 1997, WAVE’s work has been continuously supported through funding by the European Commission.
Celebrating over 30 years of WAVE
In 2024, WAVE celebrated its 30 year anniversary. Our important work continues, driven by the shared commitment to create a world in which women and girls live free from violence. We feel deeply privileged to carry this mission forward.
Who are WAVE’s members?
The WAVE Network is comprised of over 180 members, located throughout 46 European countries. Our members are women’s rights feminist activists who work towards preventing and tackling violence against women and their children. These include women’s organisations, networks, and women’s specialist services such as women’s shelters, women’s centres, helplines, rape crisis or sexual violence referral centers and primary prevention services. Additionally, individual WAVE members are key experts in the field with close relationships with other members in their country and provide research and other related support to the network.
Our members engage in advocacy, capacity-building, research, and collaborative projects, bringing their expertise, shaping the network’s direction, and building collective strength across countries to prevent and tackle violence against women and their children.
How can I become a WAVE member?
If you are interested, here are the steps to follow to become a member of the WAVE Network!
- Please contact the WAVE Office, with a membership request at office@wave-network.org.
- Following your request you will be asked, to fill out a short questionnaire about your organisation (i.e. aims and objectives, activities carried out, etc.).
- The information received will be distributed to the existing WAVE Members in your country, who have the right to comment on the application. Based on their comments, and on the WAVE Statutes, the WAVE office will submit the application to the WAVE Board, who has final decision rights.
- If your application is successful, you will receive an e-mail from the WAVE Office, along with an official confirmation letter, which should be signed and returned to the WAVE Office.
How can I get help if I am experiencing violence?
It takes a lot of courage to reach out for help. WAVE can help by providing referrals to relevant services in your country and try to assist you the best we can.
If you wish to look for support in your country, you can search our Find Help Database for specific services here.
If you wish, you may contact a WAVE member organisation in your country that works in the area of preventing and combating violence against women. For a list of organisations, please click here.
Should you wish to contact the WAVE office directly, please send us an e-mail to office@wave-network.org or contact us at +43 (0) 1 548 2720. Additionally, we are available on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Bluesky.
Resources for identifying abusive relationships:
Someone I know is experiencing violence. How can I help?
Supporting a person who is going through violence can be challenging.
Here are several things to keep in mind:
• Every person has the right to live a life free of violence and abuse
• The abuser is always the person responsible for the violence – violence is NEVER a legitimate response
For further advice, feel free to check out the following links:
- Women’s Aid Survivor’s Handbook
- Mind UK – Helping Someone Else
- https://www.wcsap.org/help/support/i-know-someone
Should you wish to contact the WAVE office directly, please send us an e-mail to office@wave-network.org or contact us at +43 (0) 1 548 2720. Additionally, we are available on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Bluesky.
Board Members
The WAVE Board is comprised of eight members from different countries and is elected by the General Assembly. WAVE’s Board members are responsible for overseeing the strategic direction of the organisation.
Susana Pavlou
President
about
Susana started her career at the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) in 2005 and has served as Director of the Institute since 2008. In this capacity, she has coordinated and implemented transnational projects on violence against women including domestic violence, sexual violence and rape, female genital mutilation, and gender-based violence among adolescents.
Susana has also served as an expert on violence against women for European networks and organisations including the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), and the Council of Europe. She served as an expert in the EWL Observatory on Violence against women for six years and served on the Advisory Board of the WAVE Network. As a senior researcher for the European Institute for Gender Equality, she has worked specifically on administrative data collection on violence against women, gender-based violence among refugee women and, most recently, on risk assessment by police on intimate partner violence.
In Cyprus, Susana is currently President of the Advisory Committee for the Prevention and Combating of Violence in the Family, a coordinating body for the implementation of the law on domestic violence and to promote multi-agency cooperation. In her capacity as expert on violence against women and domestic violence, she has worked closely with the Cyprus Ministry of Justice on mapping the legislative framework of Cyprus and its compliance with the standards of the Council of Europe Convention on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, as well as in preparing a study on models and tools on risk assessment and risk management of intimate partner violence.
Sara Kirkpatrick
Vice-President
about
Sara Kirkpatrick has led Welsh Women’s Aid since early 2020, supporting specialist services all across Wales. Her vision is for a world where exploitation is not valourised, victimisation not responsiblised and marginalisation not criminalised.
Always using a feminist approach to challenge violence against women and girls, Sara describes herself as an Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) specialist having worked in criminal justice and community settings for over 30 years. Starting her career providing support in a women’s refuge, she has worked with a range of client groups including male victims, children impacted by domestic abuse, women remaining in abusive relationships and perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Sara’s area of specialism is work with perpetrators; recognising that if abusive behaviour is a choice, then change is also a choice. She has contributed to several frontline, innovative projects with perpetrators of IPV.
In addition to her CEO role, Sara is also a Trustee with Youth Realities, and a visiting Lecturer at Winchester University in the social work department; where she continues to enjoy the opportunity to enable practitioners to address DVA safely and effectively.
Gorica Ivić
Board Member (Treasurer)
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Gorica Ivić is currently Executive Director of the United Women’s Foundation from Banja Luka, a women’s non-governmental organisation that was established in 1996, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is a social worker by profession, previously engaged in health institutions and the Commune for women with substance abuse issues.
Her first contact with women who survived violence was in the Banja Luka Safe House, where she worked as a social worker. After that, she engaged as a coordinator in the program for preventing and combatting gender-based violence, which included monitoring of court proceedings, research, education, media campaigns and advocacy for strengthening the law and politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Gorica is an author, co-author, and editor of different research and manuals in the area of gender-based violence.
Selime Büyükgöze
Board Member (Secretary)
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Selime Büyükgöze has been a volunteer at Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation since 2011, which is a feminist organization working in the field of violence against women. She is mostly involved in communication activities, writing statements and monitoring reports for national and international bodies on violence against women in Türkiye. She has also been involved in various feminist campaigns and platforms in Türkiye and the organization of the annual feminist march. She is one of the members of feminist zine Çatlak Zemin. She holds a PhD in communications and works as a university lecturer.
Umayma Elamin Amer Elamin
Board Member
about
She is a Sudanese-born migrant advocate, social entrepreneur, and founder of the Migrant Women Association Malta (MWAM). After moving to Malta in 2014, her experience as a migrant mother motivated her to support women affected by SGBV and poverty.
She founded MWAM in 2015 to empower migrant women through education, community programs, and rights-based advocacy. Her work addresses systemic challenges facing migrants at local, European, and international levels.
Umayma is a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Migration and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the School of Management at Khartoum University.
Veronica Teleuca
Board Member
about
Currently, Veronica is the coordinator of the National Coalition ”Life without Violence” (Republic of Moldova) comprising of 22 civil society and service provider organizations responsible for running the country-wide advocacy platform on gender-based violence (since 2015). The Coalition is the only national network specialized on GBV in the Republic of Moldova for advocacy initiatives and working on building and advancing the women’s rights movement. Veronica holds a Masters degree in clinic psychology, and her thesis was titled “Gender based violence and particularities of different approaches. Feministic therapeutic approach.”
Veronica is also a lawyer, women’s human rights defender and justice sector expert, with relevant experience and understanding of working with women’s organizations, the format of donor assistance in the GBV area and its impact on women, activists and organizations. She also has extensive experience on working with different public actors, including the opposition, as well as justice sector reforms, development and implementation of relevant policy instruments. Veronica also has experience in providing technical assistance under UN agencies, the Council of Europe, the EU, and other international organization’s assignments in Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia, Kirghizstan and Turkmenistan. Furthermore, Veronica is a holder of the Diploma of Honor of the International Women Rights Training Institute (Bulgaria) and a participant of the International Advanced Training Programme on Gender-Based Violence (Sweden).
Tatevik Aghabekyan
Board Member
about
Tatevik Aghabekyan is the president of the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Armenia, and a staunch advocate for women’s rights and gender equality.
Graduating with a Master’s degree in Psychology from Yerevan State University, her commitment to combating gender-based violence began in 2003. She worked tirelessly to uproot entrenched patriarchal norms and provide support to survivors of sexualized violence.
A cornerstone of Tatevik’s career has been her involvement in establishing the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women in 2010, advocating for legislative reforms and personally supporting over 700 women.
Additionally, she has facilitated extensive economic empowerment programs, helping numerous women gain financial independence, and has pioneered educational initiatives which sparked important conversations on sexualized violence and the need for sex education in Armenia.
Jurgita Pečiūrienė
Board Member
about
Jurgita Pečiūrienė is a sociologist and gender expert with more than 25 years of experience advancing gender equality and combating violence against women and girls (VAWG). Her career spans work with the European Union, United Nations, and civil society organizations, with over 17 years dedicated specifically to addressing VAWG. She served as Head of the Gender-Based Violence Programme at the European Institute for Gender Equality for five years.
Active in the NGO sector since 1995, Jurgita is the co-founder, former executive director, and current researcher at the Women’s Issues Information Centre—a Lithuanian women’s NGO committed to promoting gender equality and eliminating gender-based violence. She also co-founded the National Resource Center on Sexual Violence in Lithuania and has developed a range of tools for professionals working with survivors of domestic violence.
Throughout her career, Jurgita has led and contributed to numerous national and international initiatives addressing various forms of violence, including cyber violence, trafficking for sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, and intimate partner violence.
Advisory Board
The WAVE Advisory Board supports the WAVE Board in the development, implementation and evaluation of policies and activities, in order to intensify the coordination and planning for the WAVE Network, and to ensure representation from all regions. It consists of one delegate and one co-delegate (substitute) from each country. The Advisory Board further consists of academic and thematic experts nominated by the board for a certain period of time, and are international experts. During bi-annual network meetings the WAVE Advisory Board enables the WAVE Office to work closely with its members.
WAVE Office
The WAVE office is the operative headquarter that organises the network’s activities, facilitates communication between the other bodies, and oversees all operational matters.
about
Stephanie Futter-Orel is the Executive Director of WAVE, and has 14 years leadership experience in feminist women’s civil society organisations. She has led the WAVE network since 2017.
Her first exposure to the life-saving impact of women’s specialist services (WSS) was when volunteering in a women’s shelter in rural India aged 19, and later community empowerment projects for girls in Brazil. Stephanie dedicates her career to fighting violence against women and girls (VAWG) and has substantial expertise in directly tackling various forms of VAWG, which she developed by working 7 years+ in direct support and senior management positions in WSS in London. These encompassed services such as advice and advocacy, refuge, helplines, psychological counselling, prevention work and specialist support for women with complex needs.
As WAVE Executive Director she focuses primarily on the strategic and resource development of the network, ensuring effective international high-level advocacy about the impact of VAWG and the key role WSS play in preventing and tackling it, strengthening WAVE’s capacity to respond to its members needs and leading the WAVE team.
Stephanie holds a MA in Political Science (University of Vienna), a MSc in Development Management (London School of Economics) and speaks 5 languages (German, English, Portuguese, Spanish and French).
about
Anca Ciupa is the Senior Manager at WAVE, leading various European projects on combating violence against women, in cooperation with international stakeholders such as Council of Europe and UN Women.
She is also one of the four experts that contributed to development of the Council of Europe E-learning online course on ‘Violence against Women and Domestic Violence’, part of the HELP Platform (Human rights Education for Legal Professionals). Anca Ciupa is also a HELP Tutor, recently, co-tutoring the ‘Women’s access to justice course’ for legal professionals in South East Europe.
Anca has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Law and has obtained a postgraduate diploma in International Relations at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.
about
After her traineeship in the retail trade and several years in this area as a manager, Renate Tomenendal completed a part time training course to become a proofed and graduated balance accountant and personnel accountant. After completing this training, she switched to work as an accountant. After the birth of her son and her maternity leave, Renate resumed her employment in 2014 at WAVE, where she is the Finance Manager. Currently, she is working for the non-profit women’s rights associations AÖF and WAVE. In her very demanding job, she is responsible for accounting, personnel administration, balance sheets, budgeting and reporting. As such, her working day is not only very varied but also entertaining and fulfilling. An important balance to this is her much loved sideline as a highly and fully qualified dance instructor in Vienna and Lower Austria.
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Amina Reiss holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cultural and Social Anthropology and a Master’s degree in International Development with a focus on intersectional global gender inequalities. In her master thesis she analysed the exploitation of women and their bodies in the global reproductive industry. Next to her studies she gathered two years of working experience in the field of international conference organising and event management, before she joined the WAVE team in March 2023 as Event Coordinator. In her role she is responsible for planning and organising WAVE events, such as online trainings, and webinars as well as on site events like the annual WAVE Conference.
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Branislava Arađan has a BA in Law Studies, and graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. She started her path as a human rights activist at the age of 16, which has led her to more than ten years of experience within different NGOs. She also runs her own NGO focused on youth rights and empowerment.
She was part of the working group for developing the local action plan for gender equality 2019/2020 for the City of Novi Sad and she participated in changing the national law regarding the abuse of psychoactive substances. So far, she performed as an educator about human trafficking, domestic violence, digital safety, human rights in general and project management topics.
Branislava has been at WAVE since November 2021 and her current role is WAVE Project and Youth Ambassador Coordinator. She also coordinates the Safeguarding and Empowering Children Project and co-coordinates internships at WAVE.
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Elena Floriani joined WAVE in 2019 and has since progressed to her current role as Senior Research Coordinator. She leads WAVE’s research work and main publications, including the WAVE Country Report — a unique publication documenting the availability and characteristics of women’s specialist services across 46 European countries. As a feminist researcher, Elena applies an intersectional perspective and is committed to representing and amplifying the voices of WAVE members and women’s organisations throughout Europe.
Alongside her research work, Elena manages a range of international projects and initiatives on topics including conflict-related gender-based violence, femicide, and interregional cooperation.
Elena holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cultural Mediation and a Master’s degree in Comparative International Relations. Before joining WAVE, she gained study and work experience in Italy, France, Germany, Tanzania, and Austria, including at the Centre for Protection Against Violence in Vienna, a WAVE member organisation. She speaks Italian, English, German, and French.
about
Eliana Jimeno is a dedicated leader in peacebuilding, human rights, and strategic advocacy with over 16 years of experience. Her expertise in local development is marked by her ability to initiate impactful programs, build strong partnerships, and elevate organizational profiles. Eliana’s leadership style is defined by self-awareness and empathy, fostering active listening, innovative solution-making, and team wellbeing.
Her experience spans international organizations, national governments, and NGOs, offering a unique ‘glocal’ perspective. In Colombia, her focus on public policy, inter-agency cooperation, and institutional lobbying has been instrumental. Internationally, Eliana led a significant 3-year project to innovate in preventing violent extremism and established a network of over 1000 peacebuilders.
As the Senior Advocacy Advisor, her current role involves strategic advocacy and network-led campaigning, emphasizing partnership building. Eliana holds a B.A. in Political Science, a postgraduate diploma in Public Policy and Government, and an M.A. in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University. Her intersectional approach and belief in the political power of everyday actions make her a dynamic force in her field.
about
After her academic journey and a successful career transition, Elnaz Nouri now brings a unique blend of expertise to her work in the non-profit sector. She holds an MA in Archaeology from Azad University in Zanjan, Iran, and originally moved to Vienna to further her archaeological studies. During this time, she began searching for a way to enter the financial sector, proactively gaining the necessary education and completing internships to support her chosen career path in accounting. Following the birth of her two sons and her subsequent maternity leave, she transitioned into the Viennese business community, first gaining experience as an assistant accountant at a property management company and later as an accountant for a tax advisory firm.
Elnaz currently serves as an Accountant at WAVE, where she is a reliable point of contact for the organization’s financial and administrative needs. Her responsibilities include accounting, personnel administration, budgeting, and reporting.
Characterized by her energetic and precise nature, Elnaz finds a special joy in working with numbers, which allows her to approach her daily tasks with both enthusiasm and detail; and since she has always cared deeply for the well-being of others, here at WAVE, she can use her skills the way she has always wanted.
about
Katharina Öfner has a Bachelor’s Degree in Romance Studies (Spanish) and in Political Science and completed her Master’s Degree in International Humanitarian Action (NOHA) with a focus on Conflict and Peacebuilding. Due to her interest in gender equality and intersectional feminism, she not only focused her studies on these issues but also dedicated her time to volunteer at different NGOs and programs. After studying and working in Austria, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Spain and Sweden, she joined the WAVE team in April 2022. In her role she is in charge of coordinating the WAVE network and operations and co-leads the WAVE internship program. She also assists to the WAVE Board and provides support to the Executive Director and Senior Manager in HR matters.
about
Marta holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Germany and is currently completing a Master’s in European Studies in Poland, focusing on civil society, gender and dynamics of social movements. Her thesis examines feminist grassroots movements in Serbia. She has experience in international research on labour migration, volunteered as a researcher at the European Centre for Homicide and Violent Crime Research, and worked as Head of Marketing at a research institute in Poland. Marta has also engaged with youth-based NGOs in Zagreb and volunteered with Amnesty International and Zonta. She speaks German, Polish, English, and Spanish fluently and is learning Serbian.
She is particularly interested in intersectional feminism and in fostering transnational knowledge exchange within feminist and civil society networks and is working to support WAVE within these interests.
about
Monika has a Bachelor`s Degree in International Development from the University of Vienna and a Joint Master`s Degree in Humanitarian Action from the University College Dublin and Aix-Marseille Université.
She has several years of work experience with a humanitarian medical NGO in Vienna.
Monika is an avid reader and is particularly interested in feminist theory.
At WAVE, Monika serves as an Operations and Grants Officer, supporting the team with different network activities.
about
Sarah holds dual B.A. degrees in Political Science and International Relations, and Master’s degrees in Economic History (LSE) and Global Studies (University of Vienna). She is fluent in English and Spanish, with working knowledge of German.
She brings over 10 years of experience in marketing, editorial work, and strategic communications across the nonprofit, education, and tech sectors, with a focus on inclusive storytelling and advocacy-driven campaigns. She previously worked at the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute, contributing to public diplomacy and educational publications.
A first-generation Colombian-American, Sarah is passionate about migration justice, educational equity, and youth empowerment. She is committed to amplifying underrepresented voices through strategic feminist communication.
about
Szilvia Szabó holds advanced degrees in law and political science. In parallel with her legal career, she engaged in the women’s rights movement at an early stage as a volunteer, which swiftly evolved into her primary vocation. As an expert, she collaborated with national and EU parliamentarians, specializing in human rights and anti-discrimination efforts. In her capacity as high-ranking government officer, she addressed gender equality policies, international relations, and the advancement of the social sector. During her tenure, the foundation of the state institutional system serving victims of domestic violence was established. She possesses extensive international experience, having represented her country in prominent international organizations, particularly in the fields of social affairs and gender equality. Besides Hungary, she has resided in Cyprus and the United States, and has recently relocated to Austria.
At WAVE her principal responsibilities encompass developing sustainable financing and ensuring the effective monitoring and evaluation of the organization’s core activities and projects.
about
Iratxe Iglesias holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration from Pompeu Fabra University and a Master’s in Global Sexual and Reproductive Health at Dalarna University. Her academic work focuses on gender, sexuality, and health equity, with a thesis examining intimate partner violence in same-sex relationships. She has experience in feminist research, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and social justice project development.
Iratxe has collaborated with organisations such as Casal Lambda and UNA Bulgaria, contributing to projects on fertility education, human trafficking awareness, and anti-discrimination. She has also supported community-based initiatives in Germany, France, Spain, and Ireland, gaining international experience in volunteer engagement and gender-focused education. Her work includes research on LGTBIQ+ legislation, sexual and reproductive health communication, and the development of social media content and educational materials.
She speaks Spanish and English fluently, has a working knowledge of Basque and Catalan. She is passionate about intersectional gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and inclusive SRHR education. At WAVE, she is committed to strengthening feminist networks, supporting knowledge exchange, and contributing to efforts to end gender-based violence across Europe.
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Julie Chauvin holds a degree in Journalism and is currently completing a Master’s degree in Gender Studies. Her academic and professional work is strongly research-oriented and focuses on gender-based violence, intersectionality, and access to rights for women and marginalized communities. Her research interests include intimate partner violence, access to support services for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian women in the Balkans, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the representation of women and minorities in the media, with a strong intersectional approach.
She has worked as an independent journalist in the Balkans, reporting on feminist and queer movements, the situation of ethnic minorities and political and social developments in the region. Julie also collaborated with civil society organisations in Kosovo on projects related to human rights, where she contributed to advocacy efforts for women’s rights and minority rights and supported the implementation of various projects and community-based initiatives. She has also conducted research within the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), where she contributed to a comprehensive assessment and the development of an action plan to measure and address sexual and gender-based violence in academic environments.
She speaks French and English fluently and has working knowledge of Albanian.
about
Beverly Mtui holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Transcultural Communication (German, English, and French) and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Development Studies at the University of Vienna. Before joining WAVE as the Youth Ambassador Coordinator, she gained valuable experience through internships and volunteer work with various feminist civil society organizations and women’s specialist services dedicated to ending violence against women at both the national and European levels, including the Austrian WAVE member organization “AÖF”.
From 2018 to 2020, she volunteered with a local NGO in Vienna that supports women survivors of violence and human trafficking. During her time there, she led the fundraising team and served as a board member (treasurer) in her final year. Since February 2021, she has been the Communications Coordinator at WAVE. Her current role involves strategic external communications, including newsletters, the Fempower Magazine, social media, podcasts, and the online magazine, all with the aim of enhancing the network’s visibility and impact.
In addition to her commitment to women’s rights, grounded in intersectional feminism, she is also a freelance journalist focusing on the empowerment of people of African descent and serves as co-chair of an Austrian NGO for youth of African descent.
