Dear U.N., Why Is It Mainly A Man’s World At The Climate Conference?

Dear United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, "Get Cross." "Break the silence." "When you witness violence against women and girls, do not sit back. Act." Those are your words, Mr. Ban Ki-moon. As the U.N. secretary general, you have been forward about promoting gender equality and denouncing violence against women. Yet this month, at the Paris …

Read More

How Safecity is helping women and girls speak out and protect others

Violence against women and girls—a human rights violation—is a global problem. According to UN Women, 1 in 3 women experience some form of physical and or sexual violence in their lifetime. In some countries, seven in ten women face this abuse. That’s an incredibly discouraging number. After the horrific rape of Jyoti Singh in Delhi, India, in December 2012, my friends and …

Read More

So You Like Bananas? Me Too! Our Speed Date With Global Activists

Earlier this week, we went on a speed date — yes, a real speed date — with some of the most talented change-makers from the developing world. It's the quirky way the Aspen Institute, an international leadership organization, introduces the global development champions from their New Voices Fellowship to the U.S. media every year. Journalists get 7 …

Read More

No Foreign Diplomats Should Get Away With Rape

Two Nepalese women, working as maids in Gurgaon, India, were allegedly raped and sodomised repeatedly by their employer and potentiallyhis male friends. This came to light when a third woman, who was also working as a cook in the same household, reached out to Maiti, a local NGO, for help. Though two sets of medical examinations …

Read More

Dear Filmmakers: Stalking is not Romantic

Baahubali is the most expensive Indian film ever made: The two-part work cost $40 million to make. Its investors don't need to worry, though. After its release in June, Baahubali swiftly broke all Indian box office records, earning $50 million. As Forbes notes, "That makes it the most successful opening in the history of India’s prolific, multi-language film industry which makes over a …

Read More