The Lawyer
“I hope to go to court with my own mother one day, but she doesn’t want to. Not yet.”
Who: Valentina Frolova
What: Lawyer at the Crisis Center for Women in St Petersburg.
The Police Commissioner
“The turning point was 2004, with the new law on violence in the home. Violence against women was no longer a private matter.”
Who: Adolfina Prieto
What: Heads LIBRA, the special police unit which combats violence against women and also offers survival courses to women who have lived with a dangerous man.
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 Mothers
“Why didn’t the police show me the whole of my daughter’s body, just a left foot which was sticking out?”
Who: Rosaura Montañez
What: Member of a network of mothers who have lost daughters.
Araceli disappeared on the 30th of June 1995 and was found four days later on a refuse tip on the southern outskirts of the city. She had been raped and strangled. She was 19 years old. No-one has been found guilty of her murder.
The Activist
“We lesbians are not seen as either women or men.”
Who: Kunu Semake
What: Works for the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project, and runs her own youth club.
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 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 Radio Station
We’re going to start a discussion about women’s rights in our area.
Who: Rádio Mulher um Ambiente Comunitário
What: Broadcast local radio for women in the favela, about women’s problems.
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 Conversation Group
“If he beats me I’ll leave him – or will I?”
Who: Lise-Lotte Nielsen and Ann-Margret Fick
What: Social workers who lead conversation groups for abused women, organised by the social services.
The Women’s House
“We give all the women a make-over; it helps them feel that they have become a new person.”
Who: Sin Violencia
What: Takes in women from around 40 women’s shelters all over Mexico.