On May 7th I visited the first non-governmental shelter in Moscow which is located on the grounds of a monastery, together with my husband Jim Roby. We were joined by Nick de Haes an inspiring young advocate doing a college year abroad in Russia who is a volunteer for ANNA who served as our indispensable interpreter. This shelter is funded jointly by the Russian Orthodox Church and a Russian corporation and is lead by a passionate advocate Alyona Eltsova. Alyona has spent many years providing social services though her work with the Russian Orthodox Church. This new shelter for battered women and their children opened in early in 2015 and is the only shelter in Moscow open to battered women without regard to whether they are Russian citizens or have Moscow residency papers.
Alyona Eltsova and Leslye Orloff discussion about the Violence Against Wome Act with the help of Google Translate....
During this visit I came to appreciate Aylona’s and the Russian Orthodox Church’s vision, that this may well be only the first of a series of shelters built on church owned land. From my meeting with Marina Pisklakova-Parker I learned how leadership in the Russian Orthodox Church approached her to learn more about her work and ANNA’s efforts on behalf of domestic violence victims. Their dialogue resulted in a mutual understanding that feminism and faith are not incompatible. The Russian Orthodox Church chose to deliver shelter services using a well-tested feminist approach complemented by the support of a faith based community.
Alyona Eltsova
Father Sarafin has played key role in welcoming the shelter to his monastery. He is an insightful, passionate and delightful man who welcomed us to the monastery. He is a man of conviction and vision who believes that this work is part of what he and other leaders in his faith must do for women and children who have suffered domestic violence.
Father Sarafin and Leslye E. Orloff
For more photos from this visit see the photo gallery section of this website.
"The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SEE or Eurasia Foundation".
More to come
Leslye