One in three women will be the victim of abuse or violence at some point in their lives, says Alyse Nelson, president of Vital Voices, a leading NGO dedicated to nurturing and empowering women leaders around the world. In addition, “the economic cost of domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking together is estimated to be in the trillions of dollars.”
“It is more urgent than ever to confront this growing global challenge,” says Andrea Jung, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Avon Products Inc. “With over 6 million Avon representatives in more than 100 countries, Avon is the largest engine of economic opportunity for women on earth. We have seen first hand that when a woman is empowered economically, she can escape an abusive situation.”
From left: Carol Kurzig, president of the Avon Foundation for Women; Avon chairman and CEO Andrea Jung; Avon Global Ambassador Reese Witherspoon; and Ambassador Melanne Verveer of the U.S. State Department.
To that end, Vital Voices and The Avon Foundation for Women held a three-day launch last week in Washington D.C. to announce The Global Partnership to End Violence Against Women, a new innovative collaboration with the U.S. State Department. In response to the nearly 1 billion women worldwide who will be affected by violence in their lifetime, The Global Partnership will address the need for sustained, on-the-ground research and development, as well as actionable, collaborative and culturally-sensitive local solutions that can change these statistics in a measurable way.
