Sisters
“The law protects victims of terrorism but not families like ours.”
Who: Carmen Sanchez and Ana Ortiz Salvador
What: Organise relatives of murdered women.
The Psychologists
“When I started working I was naive, and my aim was to have families reunited.”
Who: Elena Zolotilova and Tatiana Pavlova
What: Fighting to open the city’s first women’s shelter.
The Project for Equality
“Damaging women is like killing the roots of the tree.”
Who: Mathilde Muhindo
What: Former parliamentarian who runs a project to promote equality in villages in South Kivu.
The Judge
“We see a lot of trifling matters here at the same time as other victims don’t even report serious crimes such as incest.”
Who: Paloma Mari
What: Is a judge in one of Spain’s specialised courts for violence against women.
The Home for Young Mothers
“We won’t hide the girls away, they have nothing to be ashamed of and they have rights.”
Who: Hope Village Society’s home for young mothers.
What: Offers support and education to street children who have become pregnant.
The Police
“Have you got any children he knows aren’t his? Does he spy on you, or leave threatening messages?”
Who: Family Crimes Division, Department of Police
What: Prioritise cases of violence against women.
The Midwife
“When I look back on it, I feel genuine regret and compassion.”
Who: Enayat Abdelhanid
What: Midwife who has changed her opinion and is now opposed to genital mutilation.
“I used to circumcise up to twenty girls a day, and I was paid in money, tea and sugar. We used to cut out three parts. We held the girl down and she usually screamed. When I look back on it, I feel genuine regret and compassion.”
The men’s movement
“Violence is about control. It’s the loss of control that triggers violence.”
Who: Alexander Gogolkin
What: Leads M21, which works both for greater gender equality, and with the treatment of violent men.
The Village Mother
“I used to sit up at night waiting for him to come home and beat me.”
Who: Motshidisi
What: Uses her position as “village mother” to work against violence and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Both Motshidisi’s daughter and her ex-husband died of AIDS. Since then she has talked and talked and talked about the disease - and about the violence. Slowly, people are beginning to respond.
Transit and Safety House
“The women are so keen to learn.”
Who: Maison Dorcas
What: Help Panzi Hospital’s patients who have been the victims of violence to make the transition back into society.
The Veteran
“I said I had two other options: I could become a beggar or a prostitute.”
Who: Ana Maria Perez del Campo
What: Started a women’s shelter where the women stay for eighteen months. So far no-one has returned to her violent husband after her stay.