Arrive, make connections, ask questions, and feel understood based on your own experiences: The Women’s Café in Idar-Oberstein offers refugee women a safe space for meeting others, sharing experiences, and supporting one another. Developed jointly by the Psychosocial Center (PSZ) Westpfalz of the DRK Kaiserslautern City District Association and the Migration Social Work department of the DRK Birkenfeld District Association, in collaboration with the City of Idar-Oberstein, this program takes place every two weeks (during even-numbered calendar weeks) on Tuesdays from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the seminar room of the city library, located at Hauptstraße 373a in the Oberstein pedestrian zone. The next event will take place on Tuesday, November 10. From the very beginning, the café has been very well received, which shows just how urgently there is a need for low-threshold, women-specific opportunities for social interaction.
Encounters on Equal Footing—Open, Voluntary, and Grounded in Everyday Life
The Women’s Café is open to women of all ages, from all countries of origin, and in all life situations. Some have only recently arrived in Germany, while others have been living here for years. What they often have in common is a desire for guidance, social connections, and a place where they can speak openly without having to explain or justify themselves. Women are also welcome to bring their children at any time. This creates an important condition that allows as many women as possible to take advantage of the program. Unlike traditional courses, the Women’s Café focuses on the women themselves and their concerns. The conversations arise from the topics that concern them: questions about daily life in Germany, rights, health, family, and language are just as much a part of the discussion as personal experiences and challenges. In addition, topics such as women’s rights, self-care, stress management, and social participation are addressed.
The goal is not merely to share information. The women are also encouraged to discover their own strengths, build confidence, and learn that they can actively shape their own lives.
A First Step Toward Further Support
The Women’s Café is closely linked to the psychosocial work of the PSZ Westpfalz. The center provides support in particular to refugees who are especially vulnerable due to displacement, violence, psychological stress, or traumatic experiences. Through regular gatherings, support needs can be identified early on. If women need further counseling, they can be gently guided toward the appropriate services offered by PSZ Westpfalz. For many, the Women’s Café is thus an important first step: it allows them to build trust and access support that may previously have been difficult to obtain. There is a specific reason why this program is open exclusively to women. Experience from counseling work shows that women in mixed-gender groups sometimes cannot adequately voice their concerns. Added to this are cultural and family circumstances that make participation in mixed-gender programs difficult or impossible. A safe space for women creates additional opportunities for open conversation, participation, and mutual support.
A Successful Start Together
The Women’s Café was established through close and trusting collaboration between PSZ Westpfalz, the Birkenfeld District Branch of the German Red Cross (DRK), and the City of Idar-Oberstein’s migration social services. Special thanks go to the Birkenfeld District Branch of the German Red Cross (DRK), which provided space for counseling services last year. This support, along with the dedicated collaboration with Monique Großmann—commissioned by the City of Idar-Oberstein—and Mandali Baumgardt, played a key role in establishing the Women’s Café and ensuring its successful launch. The experiences in Idar-Oberstein align with those of similar programs in other districts: safe spaces for refugee women are urgently needed in many places. The high level of participation confirms that low-threshold services fill an important gap.
High demand highlights the need for further support
The Women’s Café will continue to be strengthened as an open space for connection and further developed in collaboration with the participants. Their interests, wishes, and ideas will be incorporated even more fully into the planning of the meetings. At the same time, due to high demand, the program is at times reaching its capacity limits. To enable as many women as possible to participate, reliable long-term funding structures, suitable facilities, and sufficient staff resources are needed. Additional services such as low-threshold childcare, language mediation, and further opportunities for social interaction could also facilitate participation. The Women’s Café embodies the core values of the German Red Cross: humanity, impartiality, and openness. Supporting people regardless of their origin, religion, or immigration status, and enabling particularly vulnerable groups to access assistance and participate in society, is an essential part of this collaborative effort. The Women’s Café in Idar-Oberstein demonstrates that integration does not always begin with a class or counseling service. Often, it begins with an encounter, an open conversation, and the feeling of being welcome. Monique Großmann is happy to answer any questions by email at grossmann@drk-kv-birkenfeld.de or by phone at 06781-506020.