“Dr. Edit Schlaffer is a social scientist and the founder of
Women without Borders (2002), based in Vienna, Austria. Her international
efforts focus on grassroots, namely empowering women as agents of change and a
critical driving force in stabilizing an insecure world. In implementing the
SAVE (Sisters Against Violent Extremism) platform, Schlaffer has partnered with
organizations in six different countries including India (and Kashmir),
Pakistan, Tajikistan, Indonesia, Zanzibar and Nigeria to set up ‘Mothers’
Schools’. These series of weekly training meetings, run by female community
leaders, empower mothers with the competence and confidence to safeguard the
young from the threat of violent extremism and the lure of radicalization.
Furthermore, these meetings allow for collaboration, mutual support, and shared
understanding.  

 

Picture: 1^st row Maynat Kurbanova, Panelist, Renate Magerle, UP Elect
Austrian Union, Edit Schlaffer, Panelist, Monika Studer, President Club Vaduz,
Christine Peer, Twinning Officer Austrian Union. 2^nd row Jolanta Budissek, SI Vaduz, Kathy Kaaf, Panelist, Past President SIE, Renata Trottmann-Probst, SIE President Elect 2017-2019 and
others

"Women without Borders under her leadership has been lauded by
the government and independent agencies, particularly surrounding its efforts
to empower women in combating extremism as an alternative security strategy.

In July 2015 Edit Schlaffer was awarded the Soroptimist International of Europe Peace Prize at the 20^th Soroptimist
International Convention in Istanbul. One of her recent films, ‘Your Mother’, shown at the Convention, features the testimonies of mothers of sons who harmed or intended to harm
others in the name of Jihad, and was presented to the audience of more than
1,400 Soroptimists. The film is used as an education tool to raise awareness in
communities where radicalism is propagated.

 

We are very proud to pronounce that Dr. Edit Schlaffer
became a Soroptimist in the status of an honorable member of the SI Club Vaduz
in Liechtenstein, Federation of Europe – on the Occasion of a Symposium of SI
Club Vaduz " The Power of women against Aggression of Men”, where she was
a panelist, alongside Kathy Kaaf, Past President of SIE.

Renata Trottmann – Probst President Elect of SIE, Monika
Studer, President of SI Club Vaduz, the Union President of Switzerland, the
Union President elect of Austria and other Soroptimists from various Clubs gave
Edith a warm welcome as a Soroptimist sister”.

By Christine Peer, Club Wien Donau, Past Programme Director
SIE 2013-2015