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The stories of survivors of sexual violence

  • Adriana was diagnosed during childhood with infantile brain paralysis and can only move slowly with help. When she was 18, her father began raping her. “I’m afraid when my father comes home,” she says. “It’s good when he’s not with us.”

  • When Ana was 15 years old, her aunt’s husband began to sexually abuse her. “He threatened to kill me if I told anyone,” she says. “When I tried to tell my aunt, she didn’t believe me, and she accused me of wanting to destroy her family.”

  • “My boyfriend pushed me down on the bed in his room and took off my clothes, even though I begged him to stop,” says Cristina. “I can’t describe the pain I felt. It’s been a year, but I can’t get over it. I feel dirty and I cry constantly.”

  • “After my parents died, I lived with a family who exploited me. Once, a friend of theirs came into my room and raped me,” says Ecaterina. “Every time I met him afterwards, he’d laugh at me. Eventually I ran away from the family and notified the police.”

  • “A friend invited me to her birthday in a small forest in Chișinău. A man gave me a cigarette that made me feel dizzy. He then followed me, raped me and left me in the woods,” says Emilia. “I was ashamed to go home to my parents.”

  • “I was a few months pregnant when my ex-partner forced himself into my house, pushed me to the floor, started hitting me, then raped me,” says Liliana. “Afterwards, I couldn’t stop crying. I couldn’t talk about this with anyone. I’m always sad.”

  • When Svetlana was raped by a stranger who used a condom, her case was questioned due to the lack of forensic evidence. She felt repeatedly victimized and developed a severe depressive condition that led her to be hospitalized.

  • “I was only 15 when Andrei assaulted me. I tried to yell, and said I would tell his mother, but he threatened to take me to the woods, tie me up and leave me there for the wild animals,” says Iuliana. “I didn’t say anything to anyone. I was too afraid.”

  • Iuliana was sexually abused not only by Andrei, but also by his father. After he raped her, she cut her long hair and started to wear only men’s clothes. She couldn’t have a relationship until she was 27, and still has difficulties with intimacy.

  • “I was working at the town hall and the mayor started making sexually suggestive moves on me,” says Viorica. “I started to hide in the office so I could avoid him. He terrorized me and tried to ruin my reputation because I rejected his sexual intentions.”