Today, I will rise.



Today, I will rise.
I will rise for every woman, named or unnamed. I will rise for every girl, African or European, Asian, American or Australian. I will rise for every girl, every woman, who has faced crime: reported or unreported. I will rise for every girl, every woman, who has survived a difficult life.
I will rise for Aruna Shanbaug. I will rise for Kunan Poshpora. I will rise for Jyoti Singh Pandey. I will rise for Aarushi Talwar. I will rise for Lara Logan, just as I will rise for Bhanwari Devi. I will rise for Malala Yousufzai. I will rise for Manal al-Sharif. I will rise for the girl who was raped and murdered in South Africa. I will rise for Rihanna, I will rise for Ashley Judd, I will rise for Alice Walker, I will rise for Christina Aguilera. I will rise for the children of Nithari. I will rise for the Blue-Bra girl in Egypt. I will rise for every girl that has gone to hell and back, suffering sexual violence. I will rise for every nameless, faceless girl and every woman, who for the media and the government have been a statistic in proof of sexual violence. I will rise for each of them, each survivor.
I will rise for the women that are beaten in the secret confines of their homes. I will rise for the little girls that are sexually abused at the hands of a trusted relative, or a trusted friend. I will rise for the women that suffer marital rape, as the law surpasses them because there is “no rape in anything marital”. I will rise for the myriads of women that are raped every day – literally and figuratively as men disrobe them with their lewd eyes. I will rise for every woman that is verbally abused, sexually harassed and treated below par with her male counterpart. I will rise for every woman that is not taken seriously for her talents and skills, but dissected and booed for the way she looks. I will rise for every girl who is married off before she knows what it is to be a woman. I will rise for each of them, each survivor.
I will rise for my sisters in the DR Congo, against the rape and sexual violence they face. I will rise for my sisters in Nigeria and Somalia, who face the detrimental threat of genital mutilation and sexual abuse. I will rise for my sisters in Afghanistan, for whom education is a distant dream while domestic violence keeps her subservient. I will rise for my sisters in India, who struggle to stay alive in the womb and after. I will rise for my sisters in the Middle East where the sword of honour hangs on their heads, ready to sacrifice them at the altar of familial honour. I will rise for my sisters in South East Asia where they are trafficked against their will, and made slaves to sex-trade. I will rise for the women in Libya, who were raped with governmental sanction under the dictator’s regime. I will rise for women in Egypt who had to undergo forced virginity tests to determine their “chastity”. I will rise for women in Syria, who suffer sexual violence while grappling with civil war. I will rise for my sisters in Nepal, who suffer without enough to eat, and get labelled as “witches” if they are widows. I will rise for my sisters in Sudan, where the janjaweed militia have used rape as a weapon. I will rise for my sisters in Guatemala, where gruesome murders thrived, killing plenty of women and leaving hate messages scrawled on their bodies. I will rise for my sisters in Mali, one in ten of which die in pregnancy or childbirth. I will rise for each of them, each survivor.
And I will rise, for every man that supports women and the cause for women. I will rise for Dr. Mukwege of the Panzi Hospital, for his every initiative to help women recover from the nasty aftermath of sexual violence. I will rise for Greg Mortensen, for his every step towards educating girls in Afghanistan. I will rise for Nicholas Kristoff, for recognizing and endorsing that women DO hold up half the sky. I will rise for Barack Obama, for protecting and endorsing the rights of women over their bodies. I will rise for every man that respects women, not just in word, but in conduct, unfailingly. I will rise for each of them, each survivor.
I will rise against rape. I will rise against sexual harassment. I will rise against domestic violence. I will rise against verbal abuse. I will rise against discrimination. I will rise against child marriage. I will rise against deprivation. I will rise against female genital mutilation. I will rise against sex-trade. I will rise against lack of healthcare. I will rise against lack of education. I will rise against patriarchy. I will rise against inhuman, derogatory behaviour. I will rise against the crassness. I will rise against the unhealthy notion that a woman is property. I will rise against rules that make demands over a woman’s dressing sense. I will rise against the distasteful portrayal of women in mainstream media. I will rise against fathers, brothers, grandfathers and uncles who abuse their daughters, sisters and granddaughters, and I will rise against the women in these families who let these happen to their girls. I will rise against the glass ceiling. I will rise against everything that reinforces the wrong notion that women aren’t significant. I will rise for each of them, each survivor.
I will Strike, Rise and Dance. For each survivor. For none of them are victims.

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