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.
The Researcher
“It is still the woman who is given the blame. People say it’s her responsibility to hold the family together.”
Who: Natalia Lokhmatkina
What: PhD in the study of abused women in the Russian healthcare system.
The Male Activists
“Sadly, we men have learned that we are worth more than women.”
Who: Antonio Agraz
What: Works in a men’s network for equality.
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.
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 King
“I don’t want my daughter to be a ‘good girl’.”
Who: Kgosi Mabe
What: Uses his position as tribal king to work against 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 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 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 Parents
“We had no idea of the dangerous life our daughter led. Now we want to warn other people.”
Who: Marta and Rick Omilian
What: Manage the Remembering Maggie Fund, which spreads information about violence among young people and agitates against the US liberal weapons legislation.
The Support Person
“Those four months changed my life.”
Who: Paulina Bengtson
What: Runs Novahuset, a voluntary association which supports victims of sexual assault.
“Actually, I had a feeling straight away that something was wrong. He looked like someone from the Mafia, not at all as gentle as he’d seemed. But I was gullible and ignored my own warning signals. I was used to trusting people.”