The Crown Princess commenced her visit on Monday by attending the presentation of the Danish Government’s 2.3 mio. USD donation, which went to the largest international institution of development in Latin America, The Inter-American Development Bank. The next stop of the day was a visit at a local shelter for abused women. The shelter provides help and guidance to abused young women and victims of rapes.   

Later that day the Crown Princess gave the opening speech at the conference which – like The Mary Foundation – focuses on women who are exposed to domestic violence. 2nd World Conference of Women’s Shelters is an international marking of the fact that domestic violence is a global problem. The conference includes around 100 workshops in which people from all over the world can share experiences and generate new ideas. The Crown Princess will be participating in selected workshops, including The Mary Foundation’s own workshop “Financially Empowering Victims of Domestic Violence”.

Since 2008 The Mary Foundation has worked on fighting domestic violence by e.g. handing out rucksacks to all children at women’s shelters, and offering free financial, legal and social counseling to more than 1,000 women who have experienced domestic violence. By doing that, The Mary Foundation is striving to put focus on violence and give the victims a voice, as well as to provide tangible help to the families and show them that there is a way out of the violence.