“What’s hard is the feeling of loss. He’s in my head, in my body.”
Susana, Cordoba, Spain

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 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 Course Leader

“I can’t un-do what happened to Maggie, but I can decide what I’m going to do with my life. The same is true of everyone who takes my courses.”


Who:
Susan Omilian
What:
Works with abused women who want to thrive.


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 Inspiration For A Law

The number of cases reported to the police is growing by the day.”


Who:
Maria Da Penha
What:
Brazil’s new law on violence against women bears her name. She herself runs an institute to spread information about the law.


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 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 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.