Every tenth child in Sweden sees their mother being beaten.

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 Police Stations

We needed special stations and police officers who were trained to listen and understand.”


Who:
Women’s police stations
What:
Handle reports to the police and investigate crimes which affect women in relationships.


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 Statisticians

“Mutilations are the worst.”


Who:
Aurat Foundation
What:
Create the only statistics on violence against women by reading every word of the country’s newspapers.


The Lawyers

“With armed guards for protection.”


Who:
Hina Jilani and Asma Jahangir
What:
As lawyers, they pursue questions relating to women’s human rights.


The Plastic Surgeon

“First it’s about saving lives. Then we can start to repair.”   


Who
: Muhammad Mughese Amin
What:
Operates on victims of honour crimes who have been burned by acid or mutilated.


The Night Patrol

“I never think about tomorrow. I think about what’s happening now.”   


Who:
Ahmed Samy Ali and Khaled Abo-El Fadl.
What: Social workers who seek out street children.

In the front of the vehicle there are some seats and a table. On the table is a notebook. At the back of the bus there is an open space with a pile of newspapers in a corner.  


The Youth Leader

“Partner violence in Santa Marta has not disappeared, but it is no longer hidden away.”


Who:
Itamar Silva
What:
Runs a project to raise equality awareness in the Grupo Eco youth group in the Santa Marta favela.


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 Children's Clinic

Red Riding Hood versus the Wolf


Who
: Teddy Bear Clinic
What:
Offer support to children and young people who have been abused.


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.