Strong emotions, such as anger, fear, emotional pain and despair, are located at the centre of gender‑based violence (GBV) and remain long after the violence is over. Since emotions constitute such an integral part of violent events, we can expect that listening to people’s experiences as victims of violence will evoke strong emotional responses in the listener aswell. This is what we have experienced, and we will share some of these experiences and what we have learnt from them.