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 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 Home For Young Mothers
“When the girls begin to think about the future, about what they will do when they leave here, then we can stop worrying.”
Who: Abrigo Rainha Silvia
What: Offers protection to young women who are pregnant and victims of violence.
The Therapist
Is your family more important than you yourself?
Who: Maria Cristina D’Almeida Marques
What: Runs group therapy sessions and offers counselling to abused women.
“Someone who lives in a violent relationship loses track of time and appointments – in fact, of everything that’s going on around her,” says therapist Maria Cristina D’Almeida Marques. “A woman who is the victim of violence focuses on the man and his demands.”
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 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 Listeners
“Conversation could do more good than all the medicine in the world.”
Who: CAMPS (Centre D’Assistance Medico–Psychosociale)
What: Gives psychosocial support to families who have been subjected to violence in South Kivu.
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 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 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 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.