Feedback from Legislators
“I am shocked, affected, with your absolutely crucial work. If we, politicians, don’t break our own silence, how can we expect that a regular person, a shop keeper, breaks hers? That is why your work is so important for all of us. You give us all a chance to be brave as you are.”
—MEP Zita Gurmai, President of PEP Women, at the European Parliament on the occasion of the Intl. Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
“I join with your expanding audience in expressing deep appreciation for the way in which your film Sands of Silence: Waves of Courage is generating a broader and deeper conversation about sexual assault, violence, sex trafficking, and the long arm of hurt caused by disrespecting sexual boundaries of our youth. Because of work like yours, Minnesota now has a sex trafficking law that criminalizes the manipulation of vulnerable people’s sexuality for profit. The whole of society needs to understand that tolerating more subtle sexual boundary violations is linked to the horrific violence perpetrated on Virginia and too many others.”
Jana Austad, Minnesota Ninth Judicial District Court Judge
“I commend Chelo for her fabulous work on sexual violence and trafficking with her documentary film Sands of Sands of Silence (Arenas de Silencio) and for representing Spain in such a valuable way in this obscure area of humanity.”
Román Oyarzun Marchesi, Spain’s Ambassador to the United Nations
