The Blogs: The Silence is Deafening and We Must be the Noise

This week on November 25th was International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. But ask yourself: what has actually changed?

How did we become a world where slogans like “End violence against women” and “Believe all women” are ubiquitous, yet women are still raped, abused, kidnapped, and murdered in plain sight, and nothing changes?

According to the WHO, 1 in 3 women worldwide will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. This day was born from the nature of the crime: it often happens in secret, behind closed doors, shrouded in stigma and fear. It is a crime that thrives on silence, a silence compounded by the fact that many perpetrators are loved ones.

But when the violence happens in public, when it’s broadcast live for the world to see, there is no excuse for silence. On October 7th, women in Israel, of all nationalities, were raped, assaulted, tortured, violently dragged from their homes, and murdered in cold blood. The world watched as these atrocities unfolded in real time. Thirteen women, and a total of 101 human beings, remain hostages today, enduring unimaginable suffering. The world is still watching.

And what did the institutions that champion these slogans do? The ones that preach about protecting women and eliminating violence? What did they do when given the chance to turn their words into action? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

This was their moment to stand up for women, to unite behind the simplest, most universal principle:

Eliminate violence against women.

Instead, they stayed silent. They watched. And they failed.

And now, here we are again, repeating the same slogans. No action. No accountability. No systemic change. The hypocrisy is staggering. Words without action aren’t just meaningless, they’re dangerous. They fool us into believing that something is being done when it’s not.

The awful truth is this: the world has failed women, not just on October 7th, but every time violence against women is ignored, excused, or politicized. From the kidnapped schoolgirls of Boko Haram, to the systematic rape and sexual violence against Rohingya women, to countless unnamed women whose suffering is met with silence, the examples are endless.

So, what now? What do we say to woman worldwide?

We say this: No one is coming to save us. Not the institutions. Not the slogans. If we want change, we have to demand it and drive it.

Women must step up. We need to lead, to amplify each other’s voices, and to hold the world accountable.

We need to stop waiting for a seat at the table and start bringing our own chairs. When the leaders of the world attempt to drown out our voices, we must flood the rooms where decisions are made with our presence, our demands, and our leadership.

And we need to stop letting slogans define our fight. Slogans will not protect us. Action will.

– Action that holds leaders and institutions accountable.

– Action that empowers women to lead.

– Action that dismantles the systems that have failed us for far too long.

The world doesn’t need another day of slogans. What it needs is a world where slogans are unnecessary because action has already been taken.

October 7th was a test, and the world failed. But failure doesn’t have to be the end. This is our call to rise, to lead, and to demand a world where ‘Never Again’ truly means never again.

The silence must end, and we must be the noise.