Not Your Normal V-Day: One Billion Rising

Friends and Family,

I know, I'm sorry, it's me again with a serious message.  First, Happy Valentine's Day!!  I don't know how big this campaign is in the States, but February 14 is the central day of the One Billion Rising campaign and I feel compelled to share this with all of you.

You can ask my parents and they will tell you that I was never much of a "feminist."  I actually thought my mother's constant attention to gender issues was an over-reaction, that she was stuck in another decade that I did not live through.  I was completely unaware of the reality that many women, in the United States and outside, were still living through.  Even after my own experience with sexual assault and that of friends, I still believed that women's rights were something we were somewhat close to "perfecting," at least in the United States.

My Peace Corps experience has completely opened my eyes to a reality that exists worldwide, in developed and developing countries, and that often flies under the radar.  Just last night, my host father was coming home in a shared taxi when the car passed by a young woman on the point of being raped on the side of the road, by her co-worker.  She was thankfully saved by my host father and the other men in the car, but this is a rare case.  And, when they called the police for help, the police hung up on them and the girl did not want to press charges.  He has also told me stories like that of a 14 year-old female student of his who was raped by both her uncle and cousin, and that her father defended his family members' actions.  Peru is nowhere near the worst country in its treatment of women, and equally heartbreaking reactions to women's rapes happen in the United States.  I highly recommend Nick Kristof's book Half the Sky if you want to grasp how deeply backwards the world is regarding the status of women.  Then look around your community, your workplace, your sober and drunken interactions and reconsider if the women closest to you have the rights and respect that they deserve.  I hope I don't sound spiteful or condescending on this point-- I just deeply want my friends and family to think long and hard about an issue that may not seem like a top priority.

A United Nations report found that up to 70 percent of women experience physical or sexual violence from men in their lifetime-- the majority by husbands, intimate partners or someone they know.  That equates to one billion women and girls who will be raped or beaten in their lifetime.  That is what the One Billion Rising campaign is about: http://onebillionrising.org

I ask you to watch this video, and to share it with someone.  On the website, there is also info about how to be more active in the One Billion Rising campaign.  But I think the most important thing to do is this: when you see something wrong happening to a woman (or man), SPEAK UP.  Help them and defend them.  Be a part of a new culture that says that a woman is never "asking for it."

THANK YOU for reading and watching! Happy V-Day!