We are pleased to announce that Michelle Kerndl-Özcan from the organization, Ärzte der Welt e.V. | Doctors of the World Germany, who had to cancel her talk in February, will be our guest speaker at our upcoming meeting in October.
Michelle Kerndl-Özcan grew up in Munich as the daughter of an US-American mother and a German father. She holds a Bachelor´s degree in Political Science and a Master´s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies. During and after her Master studies, she lived in Istanbul for three years, where she did an internship and voluntary work for the Turkish organisation "Human Rights Foundation of Turkey". Here, she supported young refugees and survivors of torture living in Turkey. Back in Munich, she worked for the "Sozialdienst katholischer Frauen e.V." in a reception centre for unaccompanied minor refugee girls and in a counselling service for female refugees. Since 2019, she has been working for the human rights organization Doctors of the World (Ärzte der Welt e.V.) in Munich as the coordinator for Gender Based Violence and Mental Health. Michelle is married and has two children.
In her presentation, Michelle will demonstrate how refugee women often experience a continuum of Gender Based Violence - in their countries of origin, on migration routes on their way to Europe/Germany but also in reception centers in Germany, in which structural factors impede an effective prevention and protection of violence. In a second step, she will present her organization´s multi-layered approach to support refugee survivors of Gender Based Violence living in Bavarian refugee centers. As one part of this approach, Doctors of the world trains female residents of refugee centres to become "multipliers" who offer support and counselling to their communities in the centres. One of these multipliers will contribute to the presentation by introducing her work and by demonstrating her personal experiences in a Bavarian reception center.
More details about the organization, Ärzte der Welt e.V. can be found at this link:
In her presentation, Michelle will demonstrate how refugee women often experience a continuum of Gender Based Violence - in their countries of origin, on migration routes on their way to Europe/Germany but also in reception centers in Germany, in which structural factors impede an effective prevention and protection of violence. In a second step, she will present her organization´s multi-layered approach to support refugee survivors of Gender Based Violence living in Bavarian refugee centers. As one part of this approach, Doctors of the world trains female residents of refugee centres to become "multipliers" who offer support and counselling to their communities in the centres. One of these multipliers will contribute to the presentation by introducing her work and by demonstrating her personal experiences in a Bavarian reception center.
More details about the organization, Ärzte der Welt e.V. can be found at this link: