Domestic Violence Campaign By Dominican Activists Raises Awareness

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

The video campaign Hablemos de Igualdad or “Let's Talk About Equality” - shared by Dominican activists on social media - is helping to raise awareness about how domestic violence is affecting women in the Dominican Republic. The video, posted on the Instagram account of the Dominican organization FLASCO, presents the testimony of Marelys, who survived domestic violence. The 22-year-old Afro-Dominican woman shares her story, advising other young women that true love doesn't hurt and doesn't involve abuse. “When we started dating, he wasn't like that. Then she started hanging out with her friends and didn't want anyone complaining to her or demanding anything of her. He would get aggressive for any reason,”she says. “One time he slapped me, he was hitting me and I sent him to jail. That 's when we broke up and while he was in prison, I went home and picked up all my stuff.”

Marelys then shares advice for other girls so they learn from an early age to stay away from violent relationships. "If I was their teacher, I would tell my students that you shouldn't let any man hit you, you cannot put up with violence," she says in the video. “If you allow a man to hit you because he [supports you financially], gives you money and he thinks that gives him the right to hit you, that's not right. A woman can also work and do well.”

The video shares the hashtag #HablemosDeIgualdad [“Let's Talk About Equality”] and the compelling message: “Educating about equality means teaching that love does not mistreat”.