International Violence Against Women Act

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In his compelling article, “One Girl’s Courage,” Nicholas D. Kristof exemplifies the importance of the International Violence Against Women Act through an anecdote about a rape victim in Sierra Leone. The act, brought on by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee headed by Hillary Clinton, would offer aid to victims of rape, domestic violence, honor killings and acid attacks, provide education to girls about the violence and enforce harsher punishment for attackers, both domestic and foreign. Kristof closely follows the account of one specific girl who decided to speak up against her attacker, only to be shut down by the legal system. It is because of girls like this all around the world that the act is most agreeable and should be enforced. The girls who are raped should have the right to see their attacker punished for what he has done and should not feel the shame themselves as most victims do. With this act, attackers will face harsher punishment which is what they deserve for taking innocence and trust in adult figures from a child. Kristof makes it extremely plain that passing this act will be beneficial to women all over the world.

“One Girl’s Courage” opens with the author, Nicholas Kristof, and actress Eva Mendes, a strong advocate against violence towards women, meeting with three and four year old girls who are the victims of rape in Sierra Leon. Kristof then goes on to recount one specific girl named Fulamatu, 15 years old, who was a victim of a particularly cruel rape by a pastor in her community. Fulamatu, who dreams of attending a university, unlike most girls in her small remote town, somehow gained the courage to speak out against the pastor who, come to find out, had raped numerous other little girls in her vill...

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...tage of. Without this act, thousands of girls have to deal with the shame of rape and the knowledge that the men who brutalized them are still rampant and destroying other lives. Just looking at a girl you may never know that she has been the victim of rape or molestation and she may never seek help for what has happened to her. Consequently, these girls must be avenged and something must be done to ensure that those who toss and turn at night and hide their emotions as well as those like Fulamatu who wish to convict their attackers can rest easy knowing that less rape and violence will plague the world. Any girl who has lost her innocence without consent will agree that more needs to be done to stop those who think they can just go on hurting others without consequence. This is why the International Violence Against Women Act needs to be passed once and for all.

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