“Big Stories”: The story of the 16-year-old who broke taboos and silence

She was living the typical life of a 16-year-old teenage girl, with school, reading, friends, and mostly dreaming about her future, until April 5, 2020, the day someone else decided to divide her life into before and after. The day a 54-year-old Greek man attacked and sexually assaulted a schoolgirl from the small peaceful village of Pella. Three years later, Vasiliki decided with courage and full conscience to break her silence and speak in “MEGA Stories” about the day that changed her, but she did not allow it to define her life and her future. Tonight at 00:10 on MEGA, her story unfolds…

Vasiliki recreates an experimental and often painful experience, which she faced with strength of spirit and courage and without letting social stigma discourage her.

Dora Anagnostopoulou traveled to the place where 19-year-old Vasiliki was born, raised, raised, and raped, in the Greek countryside, where everything is usually swept under the rug, covered up, and not discussed. There he met a woman victim of gender-based violence, who decided not only to speak out forcefully about her abusive experience, but to deconstruct and break major social taboos that had previously been insurmountable. Vasiliki describes the bleak moment when she helplessly succumbed to her rapist’s wrath, but she also describes what she experienced next, fighting with her fists and finally getting justice.

An example to all women – victims of abuse

In collaboration with Dora Anagnostopoulou, in front of the MEGA Stories camera, Vasiliki recreates an experimental and often painful experience, which she faced with strength of spirit and courage and without letting social stigma discourage her. Three years later, the 19-year-old woman found the light and her story became the most visible example for all women victims of abuse who, due to fear and shame, usually find refuge in darkness and silence.

The show also met Vasiliki’s mother, who has been her daughter’s ally throughout the traumatic journey, as well as her lawyer Melina Bellido, with whom the abused 19-year-old woman traced the difficult path to justice. The United Nations has declared November 25 as International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. MEGA Stories hears the story of three women who explain through trauma, experience and struggle in a tangible way why they exist.

Presentation – Editor-in-Chief: Dora Anagnostopoulos
Directed by: Constantis Fragopoulos
Head of Research and Reports: Ileana Danesi
Research: Costas Bourousis
Production organization: Alexandra Botti
Cinematography: Unnamed camera team
Edited by: Alexandros Alfras, Aphrodite Tavris
Costume Designer: Eero Tsurto

“Big Stories” with the gift of Anagnostopoulos
Tonight at 00:10

#HugeStories