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Friday, February 15, 2013

One Billion Rising

Valentines Day, was chosen to initiate the One Billion Rising campaign which takes it name from the appalling statistic that one in three women in the world - one billion in total - will be raped or beaten in their lifetime.

Globally, there are 107 female child deaths for every 100 deaths among male children. Often because of a lower value that is put on them; girls eat last and the least in vulnerable households around the world and have less access to healthcare than boys.

Violence against women begins with violence against girls. In many countries, this begins even before birth — estimates suggest that there are over 100 million “missing women” as a result of gender-selective abortions.

In the next decade more than 100 million girls are expected to be married before they reach 18. Early marriage increases the likelihood of early pregnancy and that substantially increases a child’s risk of ill-health and even death — babies born to girls in their teens face a 50 percent higher risk of dying before age 1 than babies born to women in their 20s.

This world should belong to all of us, men and women, regardless of age, race or sexual orientation.

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