Today is Human Rights Day and the 16th and last day of activism against violence against women. Today we want to remember that women's rights are human rights too. Many women experiencing violence do not confide in anyone because they are afraid, ashamed or do not know where to seek help. With the stories we have been publishing in recent days, we wanted to encourage these women. Any woman who dares to speak out about experiencing violence is a hero and seeks help. Please let us think about this. Today, we bring you the story of Ms Maria. Until she was 70 years old, Mrs. Mary lived in a conflicted marriage with a violent husband. Without love, understanding and support. She was forced to leave the household with her children several times. She always returned to her husband under pressure from her surroundings. Even the death of her abusive husband did not bring her relief, as her son also adopted his father's behaviour. He not only abused his mother psychologically, but in recent years also physically assaulted her - slapping her for no reason, hitting her with his fists, kicking her, strangling her, threatening to kill her, throwing kitchen utensils at her, playing the television and radio loudly late at night, thus preventing her from sleeping. As he was unemployed for a long time and received only material hardship benefits, he repeatedly demanded money from his mother under threat of beatings. Mrs Maria had lived in such conditions for several years and had remained silent about her son's behaviour throughout that time, first confiding in her daughter, who did not live with them. The latter called the counselling centre for women experiencing violence, Women in Distress. She came to the counselling centre for a personal consultation together with her mother, Mrs. Maria, where they decided to report the actions of Mrs. Maria's son to the police, with the assistance of a lawyer from Women in Distress. The son was taken into custody and is currently serving an unconditional prison sentence for the crime of abuse of a close person and a person entrusted to his care. Maria is trying to make a new life for herself and has moved out of her house and into a rented flat where she lives alone.
The Women's Rights are Human Rights project is supported by the Domestic and Gender-Based Violence Programme co-financed by Norway Grants and the State Budget of the Slovak Republic.
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