First session of the film festival “Activa-te pelo Direito à Saúde”

Medicus Mundi, Fórum Mulher and the Alliance for Health held the 21^st July 2022, at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Maputo, the 1st sesion of the 2nd International Film Festival “Activa-te pelo Direito à Saúde”, whose opening session was devoted to improving services to women victims of gender-based violence (GBV). The main objective of the showcase is, in general, to contribute to the education and awareness of citizenship and the authorities on activism and the right to health.

In the first session, where two films were projected, namely the documentary “WOMAN” and Episode 3 about VBG of the “ACTIVA-TE” series, there also held a debate on the improvement of health services for women victims of VBG in Mozambique.

The event was attended by several civil society organizations, as well as government entities, who had the opportunity to familiarize themselves, through the exhibition of these two films, with the challenges that women victims of violence find in access to different services.

There were part of the debate panel, the coordinator of the Alliance for Health, Violeta Bila, and Professor Isabel Casimiro, who in her intervention mentioned that the victim of violence, besides having to deal with the violence she suffers, also has to have to dealing with post-violence discrimination, which in some cases leads to the victim to be blamed.

For Isabel Casimiro, although there are already care services to women victims of violence, there are still many challenges, so, in her view, the way for the improvement and expansion of these services would start from the extension of CAIVs to all regions of the country; the training of health professionals in issues about humanization in care; the awareness of society; as well as the creation of positive masculinities within communities. In turn, Violeta Bila explained that gender-based violence is not just about low-income individuals, it has no face, no social stratum, and may even affect women with a high level of education, as was the case with Josina Machel, daughter of the first president of Mozambique, Samora Machel, who appears giving his testimony in the documentary ʽʽWOMANʼʼ.

Violeta Bila appealed once again to society in general, to abandon tolerance to all injustices they assist when they use health services and begin to demand their rights.

It should be noted that this film show is inserted in the "Activa-te" Campaign, which was launched last February by the Alliance for Health, to defend the right to health in Mozambique, in the areas of the right to health, Obstetric violence, Improvement of services to women victims of VBG, Rights and Duties of the patient, Sexual Diversities and Positive Masculinities, Nutrition and Community Health, focusing on obtaining positive effects for the strengthening of the National Health System.

This activity took place with the financial support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and other co-financers.