The Women Without Violence Association Foundation
About us
Our core mission is to advocate for gender equality, emancipation and empower women.
About us
Women Without Violence International Foundation (WWVIF) is a civil society organization actively promoting the Istanbul Convention worldwide, challenging violence against women and girls and combating gender stereotypes.
Our core mission is to advocate for gender equality, emancipation and empower women.
Through our initiatives, we strive to create a world free from violence and discrimination, fostering a society where every individual can live with dignity and respect.
The current board members are:
Francoise Brié (President),
Marceline Naudi (Secretary),
Simona Lanzoni (Treasurer),
Iris Luarasi and Helena Leitão (members).
Board
Françoise Brié
President
Françoise Brié is a specialist in women’s rights and human rights.
40 years of personal and professional commitment to humanitarian work, feminism and fundamental rights. Extensive international experience.
- Member of the French High Council for Equality (HCE) from 2013 to 2019.
- Member of the Group of Experts on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) (Istanbul Convention – Council of Europe) from 2015 to 2023.
- Managing Director of the national helpline for women victims of violence “3919 – Violences Femmes Info”, and of counselling centres and shelters in France for over 20 years
- She has campaigned extensively for women’s rights at both national and international level.
- Activist in various NGOs defending women’s rights and combating violence against women.
- Author of several articles on women’s rights and human rights.
- Master’s degree in Geopolitics
- Master’s degree in Public Health
Marceline Naudi
Secretary
Prof. Marceline Naudi (Ph.D. (Manchester)) is a social worker by profession and forms part of the Department of Gender and Sexualities, at the University of Malta.
She lectures and supervises student research on gender issues, violence against women, LGBTIQ+ and other anti-oppressive issues at Diploma, Bachelor, Master and Doctoral level. She is Regional Editor for Europe of the Journal on Gender Based Violence, an ex-member of GREVIO (the Council of Europe monitoring body of the Istanbul Convention), and sat on the Women Against Violence Europe (WAVE) Advisory Board for many years, and currently forms part of the core coordinating group for the European Observatory on Femicide.
She has lead and participated in EU funded research projects on Sexual Harassment, on Barriers to Reporting for victims of Violence against Women, and on Femicide among others. She is an activist on the issues of gender equality and violence against women, LGBTIQ+, as well as wider human rights issues, both in Malta and in Europe.
Simona Lanzoni
Treasurer
Simona Lanzoni, a graduate in political science, has been working at the Pangea Foundation since 2003, of which she is now vice-president and strategic director of projects and advocacy. She has always worked for the economic, social and cultural empowerment of women and the prevention of and fight against gender-based violence against women and girls. She has worked in conflict zones and in areas of peace or extreme poverty, from Italy to Afghanistan, via Nepal, DRC, India, etc.
In 2014, she received the honour of ‘Commendatore della Repubblica’ for ‘her work promoting women’s empowerment and combating violence against women in various countries around the world’.
From 2015 to 2023, she was for two terms a member and also vice-president of GREVIO – the independent body of experts on violence against women in charge of monitoring the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, the so-called Istanbul Convention.
Author of numerous articles and/or interviews in various media. She was author of a blog in the daily italian newspaper on women human rights.
Iris Luarasi
Member
Iris Luarasi – Associated Professor, is the Head of the Department of Journalism and Communication at Tirana University.
She is a member of ECRI at Council of Europe and till mid of 2023 Luarasi was the President of GREVIO at CoE. During 2022-2023 she was chairing the Global Platform of Independent Expert Mechanisms on Discrimination and Violence against Women (EDVAW Platform). She is also a board member of WWP European Network and a member of SEE Network for Women Professionals on P/CVERLT established from OSCE.
With three decades of dedicated leadership, she is leading the Counselling Line for Women and Girls, the National Helpline in Albania. Notably, she has pioneered the establishment of the first male center in Albania, known as the Counselling Line for Men and Boys. This groundbreaking initiative focuses on the rehabilitation of domestic violence perpetrators. In addition to her impactful work on the ground, Luarasi has contributed significantly to policy development. She played a crucial role as a member of the GREVIO Working Group, particularly in designing and shaping a General Recommendation on the digital dimension of violence against women at the Council of Europe.
Helena Martins Leitão
Member
Helena Martins Leitão is Deputy Attorney General and has been a member of the Public Prosecutor’s Office since 1991. She worked as a legal adviser for the United Nations in East Timor between 2005 e 2006.
She taught criminal law at the Centre for Judicial Studies (CEJ) for 6 years.
Between 2009 and 2012, she was the executive director of the CEJ’s legal journal.
She worked at the Central Department for Investigation and Penal Action between 2012 and 2014 (DCIAP), in the area of combating corruption in the health sector. She was coordinator of the International Relations Department of the Centre for Judicial Studies (CEJ) between 2014 and 2023.
Between 2014 and 2023, she was a member of GREVIO, where she monitored the implementation of the Istanbul Convention on combating domestic violence and violence against women and she has been a rapporteur for Albania, Montenegro, France, Italy, Germany and Luxembourg.
She is the author of several published articles, particularly on female sexual mutilation, violence against women and the Istanbul Convention.
Vision