Susan B. Carbon

Forbes isn’t where I’d expect to see an interview with Susan Carbon, the director of the Office of Violence Against Women at the U.S. Department of Justice.  Rahim Kanani asked her what she’d say in a commencement address to law students:

. . .violence against women is not just a women’s issue, but one that wholly affects the economy and security of our country, and indeed every country.  When women prosper, entire nations follow.  It is not until we have secured the safety and full participation of women in societies around the world that we will see true peace and prosperity.

I view violence against women, in all its forms, as a fundamental human rights issue.  And whether it is used as a weapon of war against an entire people, or to break one individual’s spirit, we all know its impact is profound:  it usurps victims of their rights to sovereignty over their own persons.

Thanks, Julie Owens, for bringing this to our attention on Facebook.