Diepsloot, South Africa: Sitting in the offices of Lawyers Against Abuse (LvA), Thelma Mwale, 23, said that before she joined the organization’s Sexual Violence Workshop last spring, she did not understand much about abuse. “Before I used to judge people, like if a woman was being beaten up I was like ‘maybe she did something wrong,’” she said from Diepsloot, an area north of Johannesburg, South Africa. “I have a friend who has been abused for almost three years now [so] that is why I was so interested and I want to get her out of that abusive relationship.” Read more