Every woman must own her story; otherwise we are all part of the silence.

Long-term trauma for women who have survived armed conflict is a haunting reminder that health issues and depression can follow decades after the end of war, but women who hope for healing can and do move forward.

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

While women may look different, as some wear suits and others wear saris, or some cover their hair while others wear their hair loose, women need to stand together because they all face the central point of discrimination, although the extremity of which may be different from Kigali to Kabul.

Women are not just victims; they are survivors and leaders on the community-level backlines of peace and stability.

I learned that victims come in all image - some raped, some witnessing an act of violence, some losing loved ones. I learned that the solutions come by both listening to the people impacted by the crisis and by learning from historical experiences in other places.

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