The Women’s Shelter
“Several women who have stayed at Dastak have been murdered by their families when they have dared to venture out.”
Who: Dastak shelter
What: Offer protection to women who have been subjected to violence or threats of violence. Lahore’s only private women’s shelter.
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 Imam
“Sexual response is important. Mutual pleasure is good for the marriage.”
Who: Hassanein Abdelhakam
What: Religious leader who has changed his opinion and is now oppose to genital mutilation.
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 Pioneers
“As far as the politicians are concerned, it’s a reality that doesn’t exist.”
Who: Casa Amiga
What: Centre for support and advice for women who have been subjected to violence.
She was a retired accountant who settled in Juarez where, in 1993, she began to notice the many reports in the local paper of young girls who had been found murdered and raped. Why was this spate of murders not attracting any attention?
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.
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 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.
Women’s Table
“What we see is a state which does not take responsibility for its people.”
Who: Mesa de Mujeres (Women’s Table)
What: Network of researchers and activists who investigate feminicides.
The Village Activists
“You only have to look at the TV series, and how badly the women behave. It’s because they haven’t been circumcised!”
Who: BLACD (The Better Life Association for Comprehensive Development).
What: Visit the villages to talk about genital mutilation, and have radically changed the situation. These days only one in ten girls undergoes genital mutilation; previously the figure was nine in ten.
The Men's Group
“It annoys me that people keep asking ‘Why doesn’t she leave?’ People seem to want to lay the blame on the woman, when the only valid question is - Why does he hit her?”
Who: Sara Brammer
What: Psychologist who treats violent men.