Envisioning a World Free of Violence

EmpowerVan Greece

Context

Displaced communities in Greece are highly diverse, as many arrive through migratory flows by water from North Africa, and Turkiye. The population is highly diverse, with arrivals mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other countries affected by conflict or persecution. Many have already experienced long and dangerous journeys before reaching Greece, and continue to face discrimination and uncertainty regarding asylum, legal status, and access to basic services.

In 2024, Greece recorded over 62,000 arrivals, the majority by sea, and many faced extremely unsafe conditions. Many people arriving in Greece face systemic violence, through pushbacks or unsafe hosting conditions. Yearly, thousands of people report of being illegally pushed back at sea, sometimes resulting in deaths or disappearances.

Overcrowded facilities, limited access to healthcare, inadequate shelter, and restricted mobility exacerbate daily struggles. Women and girls face elevated risks of gender-based violence, exploitation, and early or forced marriages, while survival strategies such as transactional relationships are common in contexts where choices are limited and protection is inconsistent, access to external support is also severely restricted. Many displaced people face barriers to legal assistance, social services, and interpretation in the camps, due to under-resourced organizations and the lack of access for NGO’s to the camp facilities. Over the past years, the camps, which are often in remote locations have become more and more prison-like, with limited access for organizations, barbed wire, high walls and increased security.

EmpowerVan’s work in Greece seeks to respond to these challenges by creating safe spaces, supporting healing and resilience, and empowering women and girls to reclaim dignity and agency in environments where protection and support are urgently needed.

Our Programmatic Activities

  • A group of women at an indoor rock climbing gym listening to a woman in black explain something. The gym has climbing walls with holds in bright colors. The women stand on padded mats.

    Empowerment Self Defense Seminars

    Holistic self-defense from body to mind.

    We teach seminars based on the principles of empowerment and self-defense. There we look at a variety of subjects from ways of speech to coping mechanisms, intuition practices as well as physical self-defense techniques. This course gives the participants an insight on self-defense techniques and allows them to directly transform previous knowledge into action.​

  • Ten people standing outdoors facing a white wall, holding up wooden plaques, with trees and a streetlamp illuminating the scene in the background.

    Camp Classes

    Practice what we preach.

    We teach weekly physical self-defense classes just outside of the refugee camps surrounding Athens. These classes primarily focus on internalizing and improving the learned techniques of defense in order to be able to properly execute them in case of emergency. Here we set a big focus on deescalation as a first resource. We include people from all sport and age backgrounds.

  • Group of people sitting on black gym mats in a martial arts gym, with one instructor standing near punching bags and boxing rings, in front of a colorful mural.

    Courses for Humanitarian Aid Workers.

    Creating safe environments.

    In order to create safe environments both for people on the move and aid workers, we facilitate de-escalation, self-care and self-defense workshops for those working in the front lines. From volunteers, legal aid workers to social workers, we are driven to support those at the front in creating a safer environment for them and their clients.

  • Van Tours

    Reaching those most in need

    Our tours bring essential support directly to displaced communities, reaching women and girls who might otherwise have limited access to services. Through mobile outreach, as we travel to isolated camps and shelters, we are able to provides safe spaces, self-defense education, and resources for displaced women and girls. There we create, opportunities for healing, empowerment, and connection even in challenging or hard-to-reach environments.

A young woman with braided hair and dark skin wearing headphones and a black Nike t-shirt outdoors in a wooded area, smiling at the camera.

“It's very important for me as a woman to feel safe, therefore taking the self-defense classes are important for me to feel that sense of security”


— Ruvi, Course Participant