The annual global campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is such a poignant time on the calendar for the Women's Refugee Commission.
On the one hand, we reflect with profound anger on the horrific violations that continue to be perpetrated every day against millions of women and girls in conflict-ridden places. But it's also a time when we take inspiration, encouragement and hope from the many courageous refugee women and girls with whom the Women's Refugee Commission works — women and girls who are absolutely determined to stop sexual violence and exploitation in their communities. They give meaning and life to that rather academic phrase “change agents.”
During this 16 Days campaign, I think of the more than 1,000 displaced women and girls who took part in the United Nation's High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) 2010-2011 Dialogues with Refugee Women. These women and girls made clear that the constant threat of sexual and gender-based violence permeates every aspect of their lives. And they demanded action. Their powerful testimonies and recommended solutions are captured in the UNHCR publication Survivors, Protectors, Providers: Refugee Women Speak Out.
Read the full blog on the Huffington Post.