The third Socrates coffee, at the International Burch University, was held on December 9, 2021. Another extremely successful and highly visited cafe, which opened with the video “He by eye, and you daughters jump”, as a stimulus dedicated to the fight against gender-based violence. In that spirit, the participants of the cafe had the opportunity to question a very, present phenomenon facilitated by Professor Azra Ahmić. What types of violence are there? Which species is most present? Is the focus more on the victim or the perpetrator? Is the victim guilty of being a victim? Does violence have a gender? Does the victim become a bully if he retaliates with violence? If violence has no gender, why do we almost always have the notions of “perpetrator” and “victim” in everyday discourse, and not terms like “perpetrator” and “altar”, and how does this reflect the existing social reality ?, are just some of the many questions to which an attempt was made to give an answer and to open a new question by a dialectical method.
The participants agreed that the issue of gender-based violence is a matter of society, and that it is part of a vicious circle that begins with childhood trauma. Finally, the participants exchanged messages about the harmfulness of violence, emphasizing that all violence is primitive, and that a step should be made from the socially constructed reality in which gender-based violence becomes a generally accepted pattern of behavior. They pointed out that it is wonderful to attend activities again that create space for everyone’s voice to be heard. It is wonderful to be surrounded by people who are not afraid to talk about such problems, which contributes to progressive change and who are ready to overcome their fears so that their voice can be heard, and in that sense, participants pointed out that with each new cafe progress, personal growth and questioning established opinions and habits. Due to the great interest of the students of the International Burch University, the coffee was held live and via live streaming.
The next Socrates coffee, also the last in this cycle, will be held on Thursday, December 16, 2021. The cafe will be facilitated by Edisa Zilić, professor and associate of the TPO Foundation in the field of P4C – philosophy for children and critical questioning, and the topic is Gender Equality.
