On December 17, the day of honoring Barbara The Great Martyr, the NGO “Eleos-Ukraine” together with the Synodal Department of Social Service of the OCU, with the information support of RISU, launches a series of stories #Svyaty_ I_kruti – Holy and Cool – about the women who are important for Christianity and who once experienced domestic or other violence. About strong women who had to go through a lot, but who did not change themselves.
The project is carried out in a cycle of publications in the blog of Fr. Serhiy Dmytriyev on the RISU portal. The first article is dedicated specifically to Saint Barbara, a girl who suffered from domestic violence for years and died at the hands of her own father.
“With these stories, we want to remind you that the church, and the OCU in particular, condemns any manifestations of violence and is ready to help women who are experiencing it. And also we'd like to emphasize that domestic violence is not the norm and never was: neither in the III century, nor in the X, nor in the XXI century. Violence is always violence," notes the OCU archpriest Serhiy Dmytriyev, military chaplain, head of the board of the NGO Eleos-Ukraine, who is the author of the idea. He is implementing it together with the journalist Maria Semenchenko, who is the author of the texts.
"The story of Barbara the Great Martyr, which we publish first, is a vivid example of domestic violence, from which women have suffered for centuries. Time, culture, everyday life, fashion, and traditions are changing. But the need for respect and security and respect for human rights remains unchanged,” the NGO Eleos-Ukraine says.
According to the authors' plan, the articles will be released once a week or two.