Romanian Survivors’ Forum
Romanian Survivors’ Forum
March 7th, Bucharest
“Hello! My name is Loredana Kaschovits, and I am a survivor of domestic violence. My ex-husband used to humiliate me every day and I accepted everything, because I believed domestic violence only includes serious physical beatings, thinking about those grave types of abuse which came up in the media. But, one day, somebody gave me a list of types of abuse. It felt like an earthquake – I found myself in so many of them. It’s true that I found it hard to break away, and I made several attempts to leave him. before but finally I succeeded: I took my kids and left, without knowing where we would live and how, as I had no job, nor a house. But today I have my own business and I earn enough money to live a decent life doing what I love. I remarried, I am happy, respected, and I know that I can help other women find the strength that lies inside them.”
On March 7th, The Association for Liberty and Equality of Gender – A.L.E.G. is organizing in Bucharest the Romanian Survivors’ Forum, a meeting dedicated to women who have been through violence, where they can share their experiences, and be recognized for their courage and power to survive. Based on their positive examples, women who are still fighting violence can gather the strength to break the silence and trust that they too can do it. We know that 1 out of 4 women are victims of violence at some point in their lives, but we talk too little about the women who have survived domestic violence and what they have to say.
The main objectives of the Forum are: (1) to collect survivors’ views about what quality support means; (2) to acknowledge the strength of women who have overcome violence and encourage them to get to know each other, unite their voices and form support networks; (3) to promote a change of attitude towards women facing violence emphasizing their strengths rather than their weaknesses.
Loredana will be one of the speakers at the forum, along with other extraordinary women. A special guest is Ana Bella, from Spain, a domestic violence survivor, who has helped over 20,000 women find their strength to transform their lives and find fulfilling jobs that meet their dreams.
The event is organised by the Association for Liberty and Equality of Gender (A.L.E.G), with support from Ashoka Romania through the program Ashoka Localizer, and funding through the Voices Against Violence GBV Global Initiative and AVON.
