I want you to think for a quick minute about three women you know — any three. Maybe your grandmother, your sister, and your friend. Or two of your work colleagues and your cousin. Or your first grade teacher, your niece, and your wife. Whatever combination — it doesn’t matter. Just think of three women.
Now I want you to know — not believe, know — that one of those three women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime.
Rape and violence are not confined by culture, so yes — it could happen to one of those three women you know. And most of the time it is not a stranger who is the perpetrator — chances are very high the rape or beating will be committed by someone the victim knows. Hey, often, the person committing the rape or beating doesn’t even realize he is doing something wrong — he thinks this is acceptable. In fact, rapists have parental rights in many places.
Are you still thinking about those three women? Which one will be raped or beaten? … or already has been?
One in three. It could be anywhere, any country, any city, any village, any place.
That amounts to one billion women on this planet.
It needs to stop. ALL of it.
Today, men and women all over the world are RISING to put an end to gender-based violence everywhere.
Be a part of it. Get involved in this movement.
Today’s truth: we all have a reason to rise. It benefits all of us.
