Over the past couple of days one of the top trending hashtags on twitter has been #MaybeHeDoesntHitYou.
Using the hashtag, women online have been able to share their experiences of past emotionally and mentally abusive relationships, helping to break the stigma that a relationship has to be physically violent to be considered abusive.
In only 140 characters women from around the world have told the horrifying and true reality that some must face every day.
For such a long time many people believed that in order to be considered an abusive relationship, there has to be a physical element to it.
Women who were in mentally and emotionally abusive relationships genuinely believed that if they did not have bruises or marks to show for it, that they weren’t being abused.
This idea is what for years kept women with the men who would insult, degrade, and humiliate them on a regular basis.
But using the hashtag women are banding together and taking a stand. These tweets are bringing to light elements of abuse that thousands of women always considered to just be typical parts of being in a relationship.
They want to redefine what it means to be abused. Be called degrading names, being manipulated and controlled, and broken down by someone that “loves you” isn’t normal. It isn’t something any one should have to take.
Being made to feel lesser or not good enough by a significant other is not being loved. It is abuse.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
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The VFW Just Took A Big Punch At Trump Over The Way He’s Talked About The Khans
The Veterans of Foreign Wars, one of the most powerful American Veterans organization in the nation strongly condemned Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump for his attacks on the family of a fallen soldier.
The strongly worded VFW statement comes on the heels of Trump’s continued swipes at Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of an American soldier who died in Iraq in 2004.
“Election year or not, the VFW will not tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star family member for exercising his or her right of speech or expression,” Brian Duffy, the newly elected head of the VFW said in a statement. “There are certain sacrosanct subjects that no amount of wordsmithing can repair once crossed. Giving one’s life to nation is the greatest sacrifice, followed closely by all Gold Star families, who have a right to make their voices heard.”
The statement also says:
“Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump has a history of lashing out after being attacked, but to ridicule a Gold Star Mother is out-of-bounds.”
Duffy was only elected as the head of the VFW on July 27. He has previously said that he believes that soldiers should return home from war more emphatic.
Khizr Khan famously said in his speech to the Democratic National Convention that Trump lacks empathy.
“We must push a message that the VFW is an organization that has always been rooted in service to others, that we are an organization of doers, and an organization comprised of men and women who returned home from their wars and conflicts as better, more compassionate and confident human beings,” Duffy said after winning his role as the head of the VFW last week.
Arizona’s Senior senator John McCain has also bashed Trump over the way in which he has treated the Khan family.
“Arizona is watching,” McCain said in a 700 word statement. “It is time for Donald Trump to set the example for our country and the future of the Republican Party. While our Party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.
“Lastly, I’d like to say to Mr. and Mrs. Khan: thank you for immigrating to America,” McCain said. “We’re a better country because of you. And you are certainly right; your son was the best of America, and the memory of his sacrifice will make us a better nation — and he will never be forgotten.”
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Valerie Everett
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Meet IGNITE: The Organization Working To Get Millennial Women To Take Over Politics
There are only 104 women in the whole of the Congress, making up only 19.4% of the 535 combined members of both houses.
That dizzying gender-gap in politics was what inspired Dr. Anne Moses to create IGNITE, a non-profit organization that helps empower young women who want to run for public office.
Moses, the founder and president of IGNITE has been determined to fight for women’s equal political representation from a young age.
When she was 23 years old Moses watched as Anita Hill got attacked by scores of Senators on national television after she claimed that future Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her. All the while, Moses noticed that there was not a single woman on the Senate Judiciary committee.
Moses realized that to reach political equity, young women had to be trained to be leaders who are ready to run for office.
She started IGNITE in 2009 with the purpose of training young women to think critically about policy and to become civically engaged.
“Young women deserve the most amount of support and mentorship to walk the path to politics,” Sara Guillermo, the Chief Program Officer for IGNITE said in an interview with RISE NEWS.
The founding states of IGNITE are California, Texas and Colorado but the organization has been expanding over the years.
Young women from high schools, colleges and universities receive training via high school curriculum, college chapters, annual conferences, and elected officials events.
Guillermo is thankful to these pioneering young women who have taken the opportunity to develop professionally and digest policy topics that they care about.
IGNITE trains young women between the ages of 14 and 22.
“When we get them younger, we get them to stay with us and the impact we create for them is incredible and valuable,” Guillermo said.
The issue of gender equality has been present in the world for several decades and yet the rate of progress has been painfully slow.
Thus, the question still remains, why do we have so few women running for elected office?
Guillermo’s answer to this is that they are not asked to, “they [women] are not socialized enough” in the idea of running for office.
IGNITE is an outlet were young women can see that they have the capacity to lead and make a change.
The response so far has been extremely positive as the organization has trained over 5,000 young women in their own communities from various backgrounds.
Over the years of teaching the curriculum, Guillermo has had some beautiful success stories.
One of them is of an undocumented young woman that had the leadership and drive to get involved in politics, but also had many other barriers in her life.
As an undocumented person she was prevented from studying abroad or when applying to college she had limited opportunities. She could not apply for FAFSA for example.
Thanks to IGNITE she had the opportunity to take her first plane ride and what a ride it was.
She flew to Washington D.C. and met with some of President Obama’s advisors.
According to Guillermo, she is currently attending college and starting an IGNITE chapter there.
In the future the founders of the group are thinking of expanding.
They will host seven conferences in seven cities and will launch fellowships programs to lead national college work.
Guillermo has advice for young people who have a passion for making a change in their communities or for being involved in politics.
“Try everything at least once, find a mentor to talk to, don’t be scared to try something different, we walk around with fear and not wanting to do certain things, just do it,” Guillermo said.
To learn more you can visit the group’s website: http://www.IGNITEnational.org
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: IGNITE/ Submitted
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Supreme Court Strikes Down Texas Abortion Law
The Supreme Court struck down a Texas abortion law Monday that advocates argued made it more difficult for women to receive an abortion. The court ruled the law placed an undue burden on women. The court’s opinion is available online here. Justice Stephen Breyer authored the court’s opinion. The court ruled 5-3. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg… Read More
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