Renew Your Membership: Say No to Sexual Violence
When darkness falls in the Za'atari camp, where thousands of Syrian families have taken refuge, women are afraid to leave their tents, even to use the bathroom. They are terrified of what might wait for them in the shadows.
After all, they've just fled a war in which rape is being used on a massive scale.
I know this, because I've spoken with our local partners, midwives who are tending to Syrian women in the camp. Together, we are counseling those grieving and traumatized and providing care to women whose needs would be overlooked in the turmoil.And in the voices of Syrian women, I hear the echoes of our sisters worldwide. In places like Haiti, Colombia and Kenya, they have seen wars explode and disasters strike — and women and girls face rape in the aftermath.
I am committed to always stand with women to end this violence.
I need you — and women around the world need you — to continue to be part of that commitment in 2013. You'll be glad you did: the coming months promise to be filled with victories for women's rights.
Please renew your MADRE membership with an urgently needed, tax-deductible gift today. Your donation will let Syrian women know that they can depend on us to stay with them through this crisis. And that's not all.
You'll also be sending vital aid and support to the many thousands of women and girls who are raped during armed conflict and amid the lawlessness of natural disasters, wherever we work in Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Iraq and beyond.
These are powerful times to be an activist against sexual violence. There's a growing recognition worldwide today of the crisis of rape.
But this is hardly news to MADRE. We've been empowering women to stand up against sexual assault since we first brought the violence in Nicaragua's US-backed war to world attention in 1983.
Here's a look at what your renewed commitment will help us achieve in 2013:- In Haiti, your continued support will allow us to push for a breakthrough revision to the legal code that will prohibit and punish violence against women, including marital rape.
- In Sudan, women raped in armed conflict are now streaming back to their homes in Darfur. Your renewed commitment will provide food, medicine, and a long-term plan to create cooperative farms.
What you are doing as a MADRE members works. Don't let your influence slip away! Make a tax-deductible gift today. For the women and girls who refuse to give in to despair, it's MADRE and YOU, or no one. Thank you.
For the bravest women and girls in the world,
Yifat Susskind
Executive Director
P.S. - No other global organization does what you allow MADRE to do. Because of you, thousands of rape survivors through the years have learned, and continue to learn today that NO, they are not powerless. And YES, they can go on. Because of you, mountains of indifference and discrimination against women do move. But the challenge is enormous. Please let me know you're still there with a tax-deductible gift. Thank you.
