I would then go at the first stroke

A lecture/exhibition on the process of violence and men's violence against women with Matilda Kjellmor and Lena Stenvall.

Marit is in love, passionately in love she says with a laugh. This is the man of her life, he is like no other, even bought flowers on a Thursday!

We follow the memory of Marit's relationship with a man who goes from being the dream to becoming the nightmare. How what started as a seemingly innocent comment quickly escalated into an increasingly destructive relationship with violence present every day.

Matilda Kjellmor is an actor who is passionate about telling untold stories about women's lives. She has previously written and acted in the storytelling performance KvinnOrkan.

Lena Stenvall has long experience and is an experienced trainer in topics related to mental health / ill health and domestic violence. She has also worked for several years as an employed therapist at the psychiatric clinic with the consequences of trauma / violence exposure when she met women in treatment.

"In silence, violence lives - that's why we talk."

Participation, idea and script: Lena Stenvall and Matilda Kjellmor
Director's eye: Theresa Eriksson and Sarah Appelberg
Set and costume design: Astrid Maya
Carpenter: Johan Hellgren

Since its premiere in 2019, the lecture/show has been praised as it has been performed for both public audiences and working groups in the public sector, among others.

Audience reactions after I would then go at the first stroke:
"The lecture/show has been highlighted in many contexts after
we saw it. Mental ill-health is a large proportion of the ill-health we have, and if we can identify the causes and try to provide the right guidance, mental health can be improved. That's why we think the lecture/setting was an important part of the staff work."
Anna Kaltenegger Administrative Manager Arjeplog Municipality.

"After I saw I would then go at the first blow, I understood that it was violence I had been exposed to. Thank you for giving all victims a voice."
Anonymous in the audience

The lecture/presentation is followed by a post-talk.

About violence
A study by the NATIONAL CENTER FOR WOMEN'S PEACE and UPPSALA UNIVERSITY shows that one in five women and one in twenty men of the more than 10,000 surveyed had been subjected to serious sexual violence at some point in their lives. 14 percent of women and 5 percent of men had been subjected to physical violence or threats of physical violence by a current or former partner as adults. 20 percent of women and 8 percent of men had been subjected to repeated and systematic psychological violence by a current or former partner as adults.

Victims of severe violence were significantly more likely than others to report symptoms of depression, risky alcohol use and self-harm at some point in their lives. Physical symptoms such as headaches, shoulder or neck pain, dizziness or recurrent bowel problems were more common among victims of sexual violence compared to non-victims.