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 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 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 Teacher
“If someone wants to murder me, they will.”
Who: Marisela Ortiz Rivera
What: Leads the association “Give us back our daughters”, at the risk of her life.
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 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 Men’s Network
“Maybe it was time to shoot a few men … ?”
Who: Hans Hansson
What: Started the men’s network in Piteå and runs treatment sessions for violent men.
The Radio Presenter
“The media are hugely important because what we don’t show doesn’t exist.”
Who: Martha Gomez
What: Journalist who for the last seven years has been broadcasting Tolerancia Cero (“Zero Tolerance”) a radio programme about violence against women.
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.
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 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.