Every person has the right to know their own body. The right to say yes or no. The right to ask for help without fear.
For many young women with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, exercising these rights is still difficult. They often cannot find the information they need, and do not know who to turn to when something goes wrong. BREAK is working to change this.
BREAK helps young women with disabilities know their rights
BREAK works on consent education and protects young women with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities across Europe.
The project works with three groups of people.
- With young women with disabilities, to help them understand what consent means, recognise harmful behaviours, and know their rights.
- With professionals — educators, support workers, therapists, and carers — to work on relationships and sexuality education in an inclusive and accessible way.
- With young men with disabilities, to promote respect, empathy, and non-violent relationships.
BREAKpoint: a digital tool to stay safe
An important part of BREAK is BREAKpoint, a website with practical tools. It helps people communicate, tell their story, understand how to stay safe, and report abuse with a step-by-step guide. BREAKpoint was designed and built together with the people who will use it.
Changing the rules to protect people with disabilities
BREAK also wants to change the rules and services that exist today. Protecting one person at a time is not enough. Schools, social services, and those in charge need to learn how to prevent violence, including people with disabilities.
Do you have questions about BREAK? Send an e-mail to sefora.giaimo@cesie.org.
About BREAK
BREAK – Breaking Barriers: Consent Education and Safe Disclosure for Young Women with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities is funded by the European Union under the CERV-2025-DAPHNE programme (Project No. 101254450).
The project involves eleven European organisations:
- MOTERU INFORMACIJOS CENTRAS (WIIC) (Coordinator, Lithuania)
- KMOP EIH (Greece)
- AFEJI (France)
- FUNDACION BLANQUERNA (Spain)
- CESIE ETS (Italy)
- ALTSOL (Greece)
- ANSSYD (Spain)
- EASPD (Belgium)
- GSPAP (Greece)
- DSE E.T. (Greece)
- UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA (Spain)
To find out more, read the BREAK project page or send an e-mail to Sefora Giaimo: sefora.giaimo@cesie.org.
