Footage: Elevating Voices

NEVER SACRIFICE YOURSELF

I want to tell you that a woman can make her life better on her own. This story still hurts inside. And because I see them on social networks and in life sometimes, and I always remember...

THE LABYRINTH OF LIFE

I think [violence] is often happening in our society, but I think a lot of people consider it as normal, and no one is sharing it, and everyone is keeping this inside of them. I...

Forgive Yourself

I wanted to focus on self-forgiveness, for blaming ourselves for justifying and normalizing violence. I think [violence] is often happening in our society, but I think a lot of...

LIFE CAN BE BEAUTIFUL

I wish for everyone to learn something useful from my story, my suffering.  All refugees feel bad, but someone can understand them. When you lose someone you love, this is a very hard...

THROUGH THE BARS TO FREEDOM

[This is] the most powerful and yet, the most horrible story in my life. I still cannot realize how I managed to get in between the bars, because it was very, very thin. I don’t...

THEY CAN NOT BREAK US

Today, I realized that I am so strong, because I have three stories like this. Three times someone tried to rape me—first, when I was eight years old, [the] second time when I...

The Tree of Hope

I want to give this message for every Syrian girl and woman, to not lose hope and to not give up in their lives. ~ Photo credit: Image courtesy of the storyteller.

Why Can’t I Protect Myself?

I was living in Ukraine, and I still consider the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as part of Ukraine. But unfortunately, even in my own country, I could not stand up for Ukraine. Somebody had...

Living as a Undocumented Teen

There is a lot of teenagers and people that are undocumented and who have low self-esteem and…with guys for the wrong reason. So, I think [other young women] will be like...