Melanie Maria  is a visual artist, writer, and founder of The Mother Mindset. After breaking free from her domestic violence relationship in 2019, she received eighteen months of intensive support and guidance from Moviera – an organisation which specialises in helping victims of DV – as well as  various other institutions and professionals.

In 2020, as a Survivor Ambassador, she shared her story of recovery and resilience with attendees of the Victim Support Europe Annual Conference in Brussels. Today, she focuses on themes of transformation, motherhood, and breaking taboos. Through The Mother Mindset, she inspires women and mothers to embrace their strength and full potential.

Dr Cath Hill is a Social Work academic at Lancaster University and a registered social worker in the UK, where she specialises in social work with children and young people and trauma-informed approaches to victimisation and abuse. Cath and her son, who was ten at the time, survived the Manchester Arena Bombing in 2017. Aware that many young people affected by that attack were struggling with their mental distress, and some were unable to access support, Cath founded Manchester Survivors Choir, a peer support group for young survivors and their families. Through this voluntary work she identified a need to advocate for young victims. This led to her developing and leading the Bee the Difference research project, a collaborative project with young survivors and disaster response charity the National Emergencies Trust, which highlighted the support needs of young people affected by terrorism. She is a trustee for UK charity Survivors Against Terror, on the victims advocate group for Victim Support Europe and a survivor’s advisory panel member for the National Emergencies Trust. She has advised both the Home Office and Department of Education in the UK on how to support young people affected by sudden traumatic incidents.

Astrid Passin was born in Görlitz in 1973. At the age of four, her family moved to Berlin because of her father’s teaching job. Her artistic career as a glass engraver began at the porcelain manufactory in Meissen in 1989 and ended in Bavaria after the country’s shift in politics. She then studied graphics and communication design in Potsdam, after which she worked as a freelance graphic artist and interior designer in Berlin and Brandenburg. When her daughter was born, she joined the family company in retail, working first as a manager, then as a freelance entrepreneur.  

But everything changed on 19 December 2016. She lost her father in the deadly terrorist attack on the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. A lorry was driven at full speed into a crowd, taking several lives and breaking Berlin’s heart in seconds. Three days of uncertainty followed, as she waited to hear whether her father’s death would be confirmed or whether he somehow survived in hospital. Once politicians and the authorities hesitantly began dealing with the people affected, Astrid Passin’s battle to tackle these issues began. To this day, she volunteers to help the victims of terrorism, both in Germany and abroad. The national remembrance day commemorating the victims of terrorism on 11 March was established in Germany thanks also to her efforts. As spokesperson for the initiative on December 19, 2016, she became the founder and chairwoman of the first German organization for victims of terrorism, VoT Germany.

Staf Van Pelt, a member of the working group Human Rights in the Catholic Church and a psychologist. Staf brings with him a wealth of expertise as an individual who has experienced firsthand the ramifications of sexual abuse within the Church. 

First name: Eden

Place of residence: Brussels

Particularity: Transgender woman, enriched by a unique life experience

Activity: Activist for the respect and dignity of all victims

My favorite thought on the subject:

We are all victims—of someone, something, or even ourselves. Even the worst oppressor is a victim of their own cruelty, ignorance, and dehumanization. So, let us care for one another by treating each other with respect.

Ruth Maxwell is a survivor of a random knife attack in 2016 that left her with life-changing injuries. Her attacker, later convicted of five violent assaults over six years – including attempted rape, sexual assault and attempted strangulation – is now serving the longest sentence ever handed down in the Republic of Ireland for a single offender.

Following her harrowing experience, Ruth found the process of applying for compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal (CICT) deeply retraumatising. This injustice led her to begin advocating for change, both for herself and for others facing the same barriers.

Over the past nine years, Ruth has supported victims navigating the CICT process and now works as a CICT Consultant, highlighting the need for trauma-informed reform. Her advocacy has also led to engagement with the Law Reform Commission, where she contributed to drawing national attention to gaps in the system.