OWAAT is a sustainable, community-court collaboration to prevent all forms of non-physical, non-violent abuse against women, as unwanted contact interference in violation of their international human right to privacy.

1. OWAAT CYPRUS LAUNCHES WORLD’S FIRST GREEK INTERNATIONAL
HUMAN RIGHTS SELF­HELP WEBSITE FOR ABUSED WOMEN
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ONE WOMAN AT A TIME (OWAAT)​ furthers the U.S.
Fulbright global mission to demonstrate how Cyprus
became the first nation to declare the international human
rights campaign, "Zero Tolerance of Abuse Against
Women."
OWAAT is a sustainable, community­court collaboration to
prevent all forms of non­physical, non­violent abuse
against women, as unwanted contact interference in
violation of their international human right to privacy.
OWAAT was initially launched between August 2014 to
May 2015, in Cyprus by a U.S. Fulbright Scholarship grant
to​Patricia M. Martin​, a Denver Colorado attorney who
modeled her project after Denver’s County Courthouse
“​Project Safeguard​” and ​Denver Legal Nights​. Today, Ms. Martin continues to help
guide OWAAT volunteers in Cyprus to achieve its aims also encouraged and supported
by the President of the Supreme Court of Cyprus, a newly elected Justice of the
European Court of Human Rights from Cyprus, President of Family Courts in Nicosia
and the President of Family Court in Larnaca.
OWAAT aims at empowering women to first know what human rights they have and
then be guided to self­help as self­represented civil litigants seeking immediate civil
protections court orders for no contact to end their own abuse.
OWAAT outreach extends to predominantly impoverished women who are usually
isolated and need easy, inexpensive ready access to self­help legal options for emergency
civil protections and legal enforcement.
OWAAT trained pre­law students on international human rights law; developed
self­help civil protection application templates forms for emergency protection order

2. application and self­help divorce applications; conducts human rights legal research and
related community program development; facilitated Cyprus Complaint Centers also in
cooperation with NGO’s; provides OWAAT Website Training Workshops for NGOs,
educators, medical professionals and social services; and offers English and Greek
language, web­based hyperlink access to human rights information in simplified,
downloadable Powerpoint presentations, complete with pdf fill­in­the­blank self­help
forms and related instructions.
The ​OWAAT website​ was created by women in Cyprus who volunteered their specialized
internet technical expertise to help launch it on December 24, 2014, a gift to their
Nation. The website provides the first international, replicable self­help toolbox that
allows abused women to learn how to fill­in the legal forms, which previously precluded
them from gaining access to court for emergency civil protections.
OWAAT volunteers refer abused women to the website’s help guide to obtain more
information or disseminate information on applicable international treaties, such as the
U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights​ and the ​European Convention of Human
Rights​, which require that member states like Cyprus ensure and secure citizen human
rights protections.

3. In January 2016, OWAAT volunteers launched its ​website in Greek​, and plans for this
year include translation to Russian and Arabic.
OWAAT’s goals are also furthered in collaboration with state NGOs, like ​Freedom Dolls
Initiative​ (FDI) to prevent sex trafficking; ​Association for the Prevention and Handling
of Violence in the Family​ (SPAVO); ​Cyprus Bar Association​ Members; UN
Women­Cyprus; Cyprus Certified Meditators Association; Cyprus government and
municipal officials; Cyprus church and religious leaders; Cyprus law school, middle
school and grammar school educators and guidance counselors; and numerous other
professional services providers throughout the nation. For more information, visit
OWAAT at ​www.owaat­cy.com​.