At our last EQLECTA event, we collected donations not only to support our independent radio project, but also to contribute to a cause that matters deeply to us.

Thanks to the people who came, danced, supported, and gave what they could, we raised a total of €300. Of that, €200 was donated to Terre des Femmes, specifically to support their work against domestic and sexual abuse. The remaining €100 supported Radio Croccante, helping us continue to exist as a grassroots media collective

We’re sharing this not just for transparency, but because this issue is political. Violence against women by men is not a marginal problem. It’s one of the most widespread and normalized forms of violence in the world, and yet it rarely gets the attention it deserves. Too often, it gets buried under vague terms like “domestic issues” or “relationship problems.” But we believe in naming it clearly. This is male violence. This is structural. And it’s a key part of how patriarchy maintains control, by keeping women afraid, isolated, and blamed for what happens to them.

According to a 2021 report from the World Health Organization, nearly one in three women around the world has experienced physical or sexual violence in her lifetime. That’s about 736 million women alive today. Most of this violence is committed by men, usually men the women knew and trusted: partners, exes, family members. To put that into perspective, that’s more than the entire population of Europe. It’s also more than twice the number of people currently displaced by war, natural disasters, and other global crises. But it doesn’t get treated like an emergency. There’s no daily media coverage, no major summits, no rush to intervene. There is just the crushing silence that victims face every day. In Germany alone, over 180,000 cases of domestic violence were officially reported in 2023. 81% of those affected were women, and 78% of the perpetrators were men. But more than 70% of domestic violence incidents are never reported at all, which means the actual numbers are likely much higher. Every three days, a woman in Germany is killed by her current or former partner. Globally, more than 140 women and girls are killed each day by a male family member, over 51,000 every year. And this violence doesn’t just affect the women directly involved. Children who grow up witnessing abuse, usually by fathers or male relatives, are 15 times more likely to experience abuse themselves. They are also more likely to perpetuate abuse in relationships later in their lives. The damage is long-term. It shapes lives, futures, entire generations.

When women try to protect themselves, the system often punishes them. Around the world, many women end up in prison for acts of self-defense. In some studies, as many as 77% of women incarcerated for homicide were survivors of abuse. These are women who were trying to survive, or protect their children, and were punished for it. The system fails them while they are being abused, and then criminalizes them for resisting.

We chose to support Terre des Femmes because they have been doing concrete work here in Germany since 1981 to support women facing violence and to challenge the structures that allow it to continue. Terre des Femmes supports women affected by domestic and sexual violence through public awareness campaigns, advocacy, international partnerships, and concrete support services, including counseling and protection initiatives. If you donated at EQLECTA, this is where your money went, and we thank you deeply. If you care about this issue, we hope you’ll keep paying attention, keep listening to survivors, and keep standing up for women and children. Supporting victims is crucial, but it’s also important to challenge the root causes and to work toward prevention whenever we can. Patriarchy is the problem. It has to die for all of us to live.