“The worst human rights abuse on Earth right now is, by far, the abuse of women and girls. And this takes place not only in every foreign country, but also in the United States quite severely.”
~ Jimmy Carter
Unfortunately, this quote is quite true. One in three women have dealt with some sort of physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime. Personally, I have known family members who have been sexually assaulted by strangers, and unfortunately, more often than not, also within the family.
With the prevalence of portraying women as weak or as sex symbols in the media, within our culture and more broadly, around the world, it is no wonder women are mistreated to the point of harm or to tragic ends. Those misaligned roles played out on TV or on the big screen eventually are played out behind closed doors.
My yogi friend, Greg Marzullo has said that, “every man has a mother, so treat every woman like yours.”
So beautifully said and so true.
How can we allow beautiful, powerful women around the world to go on being treated like slaves, sex workers, or worse, being beaten daily to near death, without making a bigger stink about it?!
Every women, girl, and female is a sister, daughter, mother, wife or girlfriend of someone. We need to make this a real issue to be dealt with now. Awareness needs to be brought about for this cause.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and this year Women Thrive Worldwide has created a campaign called, No1, Nowhere along with the Coalition to End Violence Against Women and Girls Globally, which consists of more than 200 organizations whose combined expertise, experience, and programmatic work make them valuable resources and allies in the fight to end in violence against women. The Coalition is led by Amnesty International, CARE, Futures Without Violence, and Women Thrive Worldwide.
The No1, Nowhere campaign is about getting people involved in ending violence against women globally—be they a member of Congress or in the administration, a celebrity, or a bank teller from Nebraska.
“One in three women may suffer from abuse and violence in her lifetime. This is an appalling human rights violation, yet it remains one of the invisible and under-recognized pandemics of our time.”
~ Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman’s numbers are true, around the world, one in three women is raped, beaten or abused at some point in her life.
No one should be subjected to gender-based violence.
And nowhere should women have to live in fear of sexual or physical violence.
This campaign provides people with a concrete and public way to stand with women around the globe.
By posting a photo on social media of themselves with “No1” written in pink on one arm, and “Nowhere” written on the other arm, women and men (and girls and boys) can show their commitment to ending violence. Their networks will see the message, too, and their voice—when joined with so many other submissions—will make waves.
These images will be compiled on a website that provides people with the next steps they can take—getting more information, calling members of Congress and sharing the campaign with their friends and family.
At the moment, my yogi friends Catherine, Tori and Arlet are helping to create awareness around this with an Instagram challenge, but the broader goal is to create a buzz so that Congress will act!
Please take action now and help bring awareness to this very important issue and end violence against women.
Please join us!
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Editor: Rachel Nussbaum
Photo: lidaC/Women Thrive Worldwide
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