“All I want is to marry the man who raped me.”
Shazia, Lahore, Pakistan

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 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 School for Fathers

“The most important thing is that the men don’t need to feel they are alone with their questions, feelings and expectations.”


Who:
Sergey Zakharow
What: Child psychologist who holds courses for fathers-to-be. 


The Lawyer

“Sometimes I sit in the courtroom and hold her hand, or stroke her back. I don’t want her to feel she is alone.”


Who:
Susanne Croné-Morell
What:
Is the victim’s own lawyer – the plaintiff’s lawyer.  


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 Doctors

“No-one really knows how to circumcise a woman.”


Who:
Magda Adly and Joseph Kamel.
What: Magda works with rehabilitation of victims of torture and violence in the home, and Joseph is a local doctor.  


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 Men’s Organisation

“No African culture supports the violence.”


Who
: Sonke Gender Justice Network
What:
Work with men to stop the violence against women, and to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.


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.


Transit and Safety House

The women are so keen to learn.”


Who:
Maison Dorcas
What:
Help Panzi Hospital’s patients who have been the victims of violence to make the transition back into society.


The Police Officer

“The more time that passes between the crime and prosecution, the greater the risk that the plaintiff will change her mind.”


Who:
Camilla Johansson, investigator in the external interview group of the family violence unit, north-west Skåne police district.
What:
Turns out immediately there is a police report of violence in a close relationship.