Mairead Maguire speaks at ” The Partnership For Change Conference” on Dignity and Empowerment.
Dear Friends, I am very happy to be with you and would like to thank you for your kind invitation to address this Partnership for Change Conference. Ending rape and sexual violence is a huge challenge to us all, but it can be done when we join in Partnership and co-operation, and use a multi-faceted Approach to transforming a culture of rape and sexual violence into a culture of nonkilling, nonviolence and respect for life and human dignity. In the Nobel Peace Laureates Charter for a world without violence, Chapter 13 states: ‘We have a right not to be killed and a responsibility not to kill each other’. We could add alongside this, ‘women and girls, and men and boys, have a right not to be raped, or sexually assaulted, and…