bank of america does not pay taxes. you will pay more taxes than bank of america. look that up, u.s.uncut.org. >> i am sorry, i missed my cue. i have three boys. does that help you decide where i was? thank you for inviting me today. it is an honor to be on this stage and that celebrate the 100th anniversary of the right to vote. as i began to write my speech for this event, i really started to struggle with the subject. the first draft, the participants, and the details leading up to gaining the right to vote. the question that kept popping up in my head was this, 100 years later, is there enough to celebrate? have we made significant strides

in our fight for equality? i kept ignoring the question pushing around my head. the thought kept buzzing in my head like a baby at a picnic. when i finally paid attention on whether we have made significant strides, the answer was an unequivocal no. it was only when i answered the question it and sat down, it was only when i answered that question that the words began to flow. the equal rights movement would not have happened without the dedication and passion of women like kb, and susan b. anthony. they used their anchor to fuel and ignite their voices. many of these women who risk their lives often found themselves find, jailed, in prison, but they still stood up to equality as human beings. even in the earliest beginnings of the country, it was women

like sacajawea who showed lewis and clark not only the way to go but carried her baby on her back for 1,000 miles. women like gloria steinem, who earned our respect by bringing women's equality into the mainstream, or rosa parks, who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white woman. she became a powerful symbol of the civil rights movement. and don't forget candace let mayor, who lost her child to a drunk driver. she joined with other grieving mothers to create one of the most successful grass-roots efforts in american history, mothers against drunk driving. for those of you who did the morning sessions, you have taken a closer look at violence and health-care issues within the context of women around the globe. in the midst of gathering information and listening to some statistics, it is hard sometimes to remember the human

aspect of these numbers, the personal stories and someone's word spread that is why for today i decided to tell you the will of my own story. i am one of those statistics. it is my hope by sharing some of my story that it will resonate with you and perhaps _ the simple fact that we are all individuals who have choices to make. each of us can make a choice to stand up and join the growing chorus of demanding change in the world. today in san francisco, in beijing, we really need you. nelson mandela once said, we ask ourselves, who in my to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous. notice how you feel when i say that.

actually, who are you not to be? you are a child of god. playing small does not serve the world. there is nothing in light about shrinking who you are so that other people will feel less insecure about you. as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give others the permission to let their own shined. my store help me find my own light and the bright myself from what was varied -- from what was buried beneath the pain and tragedy of my childhood. once i move through it and found my way to the other side, i began to reach out instead of hide from it. i came from an italian catholic family of six. my father was a hard-working plumbing and heating contractor, my mother was a housewife and mom. we lived upscale middle-class neighborhood. i went to private catholic school. i was a cheerleader with lots of

friends, and i did the captain of the football team. it was seen to be the perfect family. even our pediatrician used to say, what an amazing family you have, and in many ways we did. but underneath that outside perception there was darkness. the darker side of the family. a mother came over from italy when she was a child, first generation born, but they brought over a lot of old school ideas and a pocketful of pride. our family secrets stayed within our family. one of the secrets for us was sexual abuse. i was 7 when i was six or abused by my older brother. it used to lure me into the bedroom with toys. perhaps i got lost in the shuffle. perhaps i thought any attention was better than no attention at all. my father molested me as well,

although i have less memory of those events. he also molested my best friend as we laid sleeping one night. we fell asleep listening to elvis presley on the stereo. i must have dozed off because i awoke to the sound of my girlfriends saying, stop it. i was so terrified that i closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. i can't tell you how many years it took me to forgive myself for that. afterwards, my girlfriend to the bathroom, told me what happened. i was devastated and scared and confronted my mother in the morning. her back was to us, a said, mom, mary kay said it dad. chris -- said dad put his hands down her pants. to finally turned to me and said, how could you ever think that your father would do something like that?

i remember feeling such guilt, like, wow, what an incredibly horrible boulder in to think something about that. i should have known that my mother's reaction was typical of over 80% of families dealing with these issues. since then she has become the biggest supporter. it took me years to get through the process of grieving. how did i turn that into a message of courage and light? one thing never left my mind in the long process of healing. i refuse to have my life be defined by what happened to me. a one of my life to be about how to survive in rose above those events. in other words, each of us can turn a lemon into lemonade. but iran, those actions of those i love it devastated me. i felt incredibly alone. little did i know how many people were having similar experiences to mind.

my personal views may be the victim of the disease is so widespread as to be almost incomprehensible. i'm talking about global violence against women and children. this represents one of the largest global problems facing humanity today. supporting -- at according to amnesty international, one of three women worldwide will be beaten, coursed into sex, with rape in some countries reaching 70%. these devastate the lives of women and men everywhere around the globe. how does this affect you? what relevance does this have today as we sit enjoying lunch at the women's day event? it affects you more than you think. bear with me as i share some statistics. i had the privilege of speaking at the united nations a few weeks ago, a humbling experience. the u.n. has been a leader in establishing the human rights of

women. in 1979 that established the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. this is designed to protect women. president carter signed the document and send it to the senate foreign relations committee for a vote in 1980. to date, 31 years later, the united states is the only developed nation that has failed to ratify the treaty, putting us and the company of somalia, sudan, iran, and zimbabwe. this past month and the halls of congress, we have seen an attack on american women like never before. instead of a clear focus on the budget and job creation, there has been a concentrated effort to limit women's rights. we have had a major push in congress to redefine rape to only those women who could prove that they fought back. this would exclude many victims

of date rape, children who were raped. we had a legislator from georgia who wants to change the legal term. he but the word to the accuser. victims of lesser crimes like burglaries would remain victims. in south dakota, the bill was proposed that would make it legal to murder a doctor who basically provided a portion care. it would make it legal to kill the doctor. we have another bill, the international violence against women act, a sister bill to that which is the domestic bill. it creates a comprehensive program to address the violence and places women at the center of u.s. foreign policy for the first time in history. it supports measures to prevent violence,. text survivors, and brings perpetrators to justice.

we have one of the three lead it drafters of this legislation. the bill was signed by the senate foreign relations committee and has a long way to go for passage. when you think about it, besides the incredible trauma violence is inflicting on our globe, the cost of global violence is huge. the cost of just partner violence, $6 billion per year. canada, $1 billion per year. the united kingdom, $23 billion per year. that is only one aspect. imagine if we took the time to record and tallied the global cost of all types of violence against women. it would be astronomical. man, unless you feel left out, don't worry, you are included in this. that america we have the proud distinction of being one of the most violent places for boys.

one in five boys will be molested before they are 13. these figures are low because many -- when sexually abused boys are not treated, society has to deal with them later, resulting in problems like crime and more sexual abuse. the suicide rate for boys who have been abused is 14 times higher than a non abused boy. drug use is 12-40 times greater. many experts believe that many boys are sexually abused. after a came out on the other side of my abuse, had to dedicate my work. i completed a short film called flashcards, loosely based on my childhood. it won a international awards, it aired on international public television.

the canadian mounties approached before the movie was even done and used it to train their officers. the movie is also in many parts of africa now used as a training tool. despite lengthy efforts with state senators, but has never been used as an educational tool in the united states. in august of 2007, i went to zimbabwe. it continues to be in the midst of a political crisis. robert mugabe, at one point a freedom fighter, after 30 years in power has become a political dictator. he has written to the elections since the year 2000. zimbabwe, which has one of the highest aids rates in the world, and a large part of that epidemic has to do with the following. at there is a myth perpetuated by the traditional healers that

raping a version will cure aids. part of my focus in zimbabwe is to document the work of the girl child network. in many ways, here she is in a developing country, on the verge of collapse, and they do a far better job. after a week of filming, 15 central intelligence officers arrested her and myself and our assistance, beginning in our deal that led us in the torture center of zimbabwe. the we spent three days in a co- ed overcrowded prison. i was urinated on, i saw a man get tortured. and we were lucky. after three days we got out. my husband had hired un rights lawyers, the u.s. embassy was involved, and said you have to get out before the weekend or you will be raped or killed.

the experience has forever changed me. every day i think about how lucky i am to be standing here. how will show you a clip of the movie, "tapestries of hope." young girls are being abused and have nowhere to turn. >> they think that the virgin's blood it is so pure that it has healing power. >> the girls have been ostracized by the very society that advises men that raping virgins can cure hiv aids.

>> the youngest are one day old. >> and fight she does. i knew i had to go to zimbabwe. but first day there we were stopped by the central intelligence agency. we had to be careful. he will stand by it silently while girls are harmed. -- he will not stand by silently while girls are harmed. >> you don't have to be so hard on yourself >> they heard of a girl who needed to be rescued. i was going to go out, but we never made it.

>> they will be deported. am i was told by the u.s. embassy if i did not get out by the weekend that i would be raped or killed. these actions devastate the lives of women around the globe. >> i tried to forget what has happened to me and face life. all i could say it is try to be someone in life and you can do it. >> when the day is darkest you can be a star when you fall hardest you find out how strong you are >> we must become foot soldiers of change. >> have had little faith. >> thank you. [applause]

>> i will leave you with one last quote from alice paul. she sounded an alarm that has great poignancy and significance today. she said, if we keep on this way, it will be celebrating the 1848 convention without being much further advanced in equal rights than we are. we should not be faced because this is written into the framework of our government. today we are 13 years past her worst fears. i want to impress upon you one thing. add your voice to the chorus, sound by sound, note by note, as we rise up in a symphony of voices and say the quality. and then we also stop violence

against women and children. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much. i like to get you on my radio show to talk about these issues. if she could just get a percentage of the tea party media, we could probably change a lot in the world. now i like to welcome shelley back to the stage, along with family. [applause] >> thank you very much. before i turn the microphone over, i get so excited having our past american future mayor,

a really want to bring to the stage an incredible woman who helped me make that introduction, and i fail to do that. i want you to a challenge a woman from china to e-mail me and helped me at 3:00 in the morning, was always there, and i want her to stand because she deserves it. [applause] thank you for everything. forgive me for forgetting, girlfriend. you know i wanted you appear with me. now i will introduce my partner and this, the head of the department on the commission of women. a woman i totally admire for everything she has done. she is also out on the san francisco food board -- san francisco school board, and we know how much we need her there. [applause] >> mayor brown said san

francisco is the first and only city in the world to have an ordinance reflecting the elimination of all forms of discrimination as women. some of the women in this room or at the world conference. you heard it here, we want to bring the u.n. world conference on women to the san francisco bay area in 2015. [applause] i just have a few folks to recognize. former supervisor sophie maxwell. we have the vice president, but commissioner, the fire commissioner, linda richardson, the director of treasure island,

the former commissioner carol, the city administrator, amy brown, the first woman in that position. the city purchaser on the mayor's staff. if i miss you, please see me. we would be happy to announce she. thank you for joining us today. [applause] >> i would also like to thank our table sponsors and all of our incredible volunteers. thank you for all of the hard work putting this together. [applause] now we're going to start our awards presentation. the organization of the year award goes to the family violence prevention fund, esther

is the executive director, and the family violence prevention fund, a quick description, works to prevent violence within the home and the committee to help those whose lives have been devastated by violence, because everyone has the right to live free of violence. for more than three decades they have work to end violence against women and children around the world. please join me in welcoming her. she's the director of the family violence prevention fund. [applause] >> thank you so much for this wonderful honor. this is an organizational award. those of you who are directors of organizations know that the only way that you could do the work is by having an extraordinary staff. on behalf of the family violence prevention fund and the staff in this room, debbie lee, who has

changed the way health care providers help women who come into emergency rooms, health clinics, and is now making sure that middle school kids get to go to school to learn and have friendships and not be bullied and not to be raped. thank you, debbie lee. and my colleague, 18. -- lennie. lennie, who was with us in beijing. because of your extraordinary work, violence against women as part of the beijing platform. because of your work in coalition with other groups around this country, over 15,000 battered and sexually abused in the court woman -- and the.

women are here and free of their abusive spouses. thank you very much, lennie. and sarah. is your mom here? she is also related to someone on the school board. sarah, who runs and it works on signature products, coaching boys into men. i encourage you to look at that's not cool.com, which is about stopping dating violence. this is an organizational award, i get to do this. and for rachel, who has been at the organization and who has been my partner as we build in the federal part of global clhu

to challenge the notion that violence does not have to be part of the human experience. i thank you, rachel, and i think all of you for this award and for the work that we will do together in this city, and are presidio, to create a future without violence for our children and for all of us. thank you for this honor. [applause] >> we also have a certificate from mayor edwin lee, the member of the board of supervisors -- >> good thing we have a new office building. >> also from nancy pelosi, and from our speaker pro tem.

>> thank you very much. >> could we have the organization please stand so we can recognize all of the members who are here today? please stand. please stand. [applause] i just had a couple of other recognitions. we're joined by the small business commission. thank you for joining us. >> next we have the committee advocate of the year award. an amazing woman, who formed sage, and years ago i was able to sit in on her classes.

are you familiar with those? she is unbelievable. she would show up in a pink suit and talk to men who were basically arrested for soliciting women for sex and she would talk about as tv's -- std's and why this is wrong and then she transformed a talked- about why she was a particular prostitute. she would actually point at man and say you picked me up five years ago, remember? i was floored by this. the other thing she did, she said, how many of you have kids. the metal to raise their hands. some would say i want you to look at the guy next to you and picture him raping your daughter. some of these men were in tears. she told me at that end, it is the men who were not in tears that we have to worry about.

most of the men did not want to talk, especially in business jackets to had to go pick up their wives at the spot. she was an incredible woman. the advocate of the year award goes to another incredible woman. [applause] roma is a social justice activist on immigrant rights and women's rights. she directs the bay area homeless program and also teaches at the department of health and education at san francisco state university. let's give another warm welcome to roma. >> thank you.