The confidence to speak out

The founder of V-Day (a movement to end violence against women and girls) has been speaking out for people who don't have a voice for years.

I was fortunate enough to meet her a few years ago and she's one of my all time heros. To have survived so much and then to help so many people...

Here's her piece on the betrayal she felt by directors' etc. support of Roman Polanski's behaviour:

www.huffingtonpost.com/eve-ensler/does-the-brotherhood-of-f_b_305581.html

Personally, I adore David Lynch and Pedro Almadovar but can't believe that anyone would OK the rape of a 13 year old girl because it happened ages ago and he's had a tough life.

Equally, I can't believe how many interviews I read at the height of ER star Noah Wyle's fame which acted as if the fact that he'd lost his virginity to an 18 year old when HE was 13 was something cool.

Boy or girl, 13 is childhood.

I'd love to live in a world where children have the confidence to feel that their voices matter, too. That they can safely say NO to anything that makes them feel remotely uncomfortable and that no one has to give into abuse.

I know it's NOT that world, but part of me feels confident that, by getting predators the help they need (not putting them in places where we know old abuse will be compounded by new) and by keeping children safe or at least letting them know that it wasn't their fault, we can slowly get there.