One in three women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime, and this adds up to more than one billion women.
This fact haunts me. This fact haunts people all over the world. This fact is the reason why we must fight for an end to this violence.
We must promote awareness of these acts of violence; we must report the violence we see within our personal lives and the lives of those around us. Some of you may think I am an extremist. Some of you may think there is not any violence within your lives or within the lives of those around you, but the statistics say otherwise.
So look around you, and I am sure, I am positive you will come back with something. Because of this fact, there have been two events made, that are known all over the world. These two events took place on our campus; they are One Billion Rising and “The Vagina Monologues.”
Some of you may ask what these events are. One Billion Rising is a call to men and women to refuse to participate in the status quo until rape and rape culture ends, it is a global movement to end the violence that is surrounding us, and haunting us.
“The Vagina Monologues” are stories from women read by women to act as a voice for the women whose voices have gone unheard. These two productions already took place.
Although they are over, the fight to end violence is still going on. There are women and men of all backgrounds rising all over this planet. I am rising. It is time for you to rise with me. The time to stand watch is long past; the fact that over 1 billion women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime says that.
