I dont want to be someone in my sixties holding on to a group that I created when I was in my twenties.

It seems to me that violence against women has been tolerated for so long that the world has become numb to it.

Since a very young age, my mother made sure to tell me about the plight of women... As she raised my awareness about women's issues, she also made sure to ingrain in me the importance of being strong and independent and not to let anybody define me by their images of what women should be.

I believe that there is an urgent need to restructure the discussion of war to include the impact it has on women.

No change can come if those who are impacted the most by discrimination are not willing to stand up for themselves.

It appears easier to talk about protecting women than it is to fully include women at all decision-making levels in peace talks and post-conflict planning.

I find it amazing that the only group of people who are not fighting and not killing and not pillaging and not burning and not raping, and the group of people who are mostly — though not exclusively — who are keeping life going in the midst of war, are not included in the negotiating table.