«Nasiliu.net» (No To Violence) is a large project unique for Russia that is aiming to break the silence about domestic violence and make the problem visible. The Center is actively engaged in educational and informational activities, as well as targeted aid to survivors of domestic violence. Our job is to assist and support people in overcoming the traumatic experience and helping them to make a fresh start.
Nasiliu.net appeared as a media project in 2015: Anna Rivina started it as a volunteer initiative focusing on raising awareness on domestic violence.
In 2016 we created a website that became the first informational source on the problem of domestic violence in Russia.
In the same year we launched the N.N. mobile application. It has a SOS-button which sends a message for help to five addressees. Besides, the app contains instructions for domestic violence survivors and a map of helping organizations in Russia. The map is regularly checked and updated.
In 2017, we launched the project called #MenAgainstViolence for which we asked famous Russian journalists, musicians, artists and other public figures to speak out against domestic violence.
In 2018, we made a series of video instructions for people who faced domestic violence. Experts from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and crisis centers, as well as psychologists and lawyers, participated in the project. They told about the necessary actions in case of physical violence or sexual assault.
On April 18, 2018, the Center was registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as an autonomous non-profit organization.
In 2019, the Center became the first and only place in Moscow where domestic violence survivors of all genders, citizenships, or places of registration could receive integrated psychological and legal assistance without bureaucratic complexity.
In March 2019, Levi’s announced the launch of the global initiative I Shape My World, which featured stories of women who were moving the world forward. The campaign brought together 40 women from 10 different countries. Nasiliu.net’s director Anna Rivina represented Russia. During this campaign we distributed hundreds of posters in Levi’s stores enabling thousands of women to find out about the Center and the help they could get.
In 2020, we started working with abusers who decided to give up on violence and change their life. Thus, we have become the only NGO in Moscow to give psychological consultations not only to domestic violence survivors but also to aggressors.
In May 2020, Anna Rivina was included in the Forbes rating of the most successful young people “30 under 30” in the Social Practices category.
In December 2020, the Center started to face counteraction from the Russian state. The Russian Ministry of Justice declared Nasiliu.net to be a ”foreign agent”, which created financial and media obstacles as well as bureaucratic hurdles.
Before that the Centre had been cooperating with the Department of Labor and Social Protection and the Department of Media and Advertising to make a big campaign which was supported with a mayor’s grant. It was called Moscow Against Domestic Violence. In the summer 2020 thousands of leaflets and posters appeared in all the social centers of Moscow. In September the Center organized panel discussions for lawyers, psychologists and employees of government and non-profit organizations. From October 2020 to January 2021 Nasiliu.net billboards hung around Moscow. This cooperation ended abruptly after the Center was added to the list of “foreign agents” on December 29, 2020.
However, Nasiliu.net continued working and expanding. In August 2021 the Center launched the SOS accommodation program to provide emergency shelters for domestic violence survivors in Moscow.
In November 2021, Nasiliu.net launched a special program to help older people who were exposed to domestic violence.
In the following year the Center opened a coworking space for those who felt lonely and insecure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In January 2023, the Center launched PRO Nasilie — the most comprehensive source of information on the problem of domestic violence in the Russian language.
On February 10, 2023, the Russian Ministry of Justice declared the founder and director of Nasiliu.net Anna Rivina to be a “foreign agent” personally — claiming that she “distributed false information about the activities of the Russian authorities and negative information about the Russian Ministry of Defense”.
On June 1, 2023, the Center started operating not only in-person in Moscow, as it was before, but also online across Russia.
In August 2023, the Center started working on a 24/7 basis to be available for domestic violence survivors from all the time-zones.
On April 18, 2024, our Center began to provide help to Russian-speaking people all over the world, regardless of citizenship and nationality.
Now the Center gives free psychological, legal and HR-consultations, as well as organizes various support groups and art therapy classes. The psychologists of the Center also work with aggressors who aim to renounce violence and change their way of coping with emotions.
The Center operates all over the world, but our legal consultations are possible only within the framework of the Russian legislation and our SOS accommodation program is available in Moscow only.
Thousands of people have reached out for help throughout the years of Nasiliu.net’s work. These people are not only domestic violence survivors, but also witnesses and aggressors. The statistics can be found in the yearly reports on the Center’s website. For instance, since September 2022 to August 2023 the specialists of the Center helped 7816 times: this number includes individual consultations, groups of psychological support, SOS accommodation program, calls and communication through different channels.
We are united not only by professionalism but also by dissatisfaction with the way the problem of domestic violence is treated in Russia. The Russian government has no intention to protect people who faced violence and often sides with abusers. As a result of this policy, survivors of domestic violence don’t only feel unprotected by law but they often feel guilty and condemned by society.
