A few weeks ago, I found Hollaback NYC. It's a blog dedicated to ending street harassment by snapping pictures of the perpetrators and posting them online. I think it's sassy and bold and I love the women who created it and participate in it. As I read through the entries it occurred to me how powerful storytelling is. We can say that street harassment is a problem for women but until we read that every day a woman in New York experiences a threat, or a vulgar reference to her body, or a crude, unwanted advance, we fail to grasp the human consequences. Stats and numbers help us prove our case when we say that violence against women is an epidemic, but the strength to move hearts and minds lies in narratives of women who have experienced it. Gendered violence comes in many forms, whether it be street harassment, domestic abuse, or rape. The UN estimates that one third of the female population of the world has experienced violence over their lifetimes. That's one billions stories.

That's why I started A Billion Lights. It's a blog for capturing those stories, a safe space for women to share their experiences. I believe that every story told sheds new light on the problem of violence against women. Every time silence is broken, new light is brought into the life that kept the silence. Every time one woman connects with another and offers sympathy and understanding, light is cast where there used to be only shadows.

Please help me tell these stories. The blog will post first person stories from and about women who have experienced violence. I will never publish a last name or any ostensibly identifiable information such as an address. The site is here.

Let's start lighting candles.

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