Lina AbiRafeh

I would say firstly, she has to decide if she wants to do this as a career, or if she can find ways to do it within whatever space she has. She doesn't have to be a full-time career activist and throw herself into the wild, or the front lines of a war, unless she wants to. She can see the possibility of doing this work in ways that are equally impactful within the spaces that she has, because that's where we exert the greatest influence. It's in our families, in our communities, in our workplaces, in our immediate surroundings. We have relationships with people who know us and trust us, where we see things that need to be changed, that need to evolve. You could work in any office in any country in the world and champion a policy to end sexual harassment. That already alone would be an extraordinary impact. It's about seeing the possibilities in igniting other people to join that fight, igniting men and boys. If she's a mother, it would be raising a young man who understands things like nonviolence, boundaries, consent, equality, respect for women, who's grown up doing his part of household chores and labor without a gendered lens. I think it starts with small things, and it starts with modeling that behavior.

Right now in the U.S., I think we really need to do more to make public spaces safe for women and girls, to give them access to safe spaces and support. We've got to look at both sides when we talk about ending violence against women. The response side with shelters, hotlines, legislation, ending impunity, places to report, all of that stuff, yes. But I really would like to see the prevention side scaled up. That's going to take a lot of long-term effort and commitment. Education at a very basic level, changing the way that we think and learn, infiltrating our popular culture with role models and messages and edutainment that helps change the way that we think about women and girls, about our relationships, about what's happening to men and boys, and this resurgence of a toxic masculinity, and a sense of entitlement, and a dramatic increase in violence against women. Every day this is in the news. We have to stop this.

I believe in supporting other women. I believe in championing and cheerleading for other women, and I love to be in spaces where women do that for me as well. I naturally gravitate to the kinds of things that create space for that to happen. I love women's voices and stories, and I've dedicated my whole life to this. Whatever we can do for each other, to amplify our causes and our brands and share each other's work, there's no limit. For me, the bigger enemy is our own apathy, the potential that we have to feel so overwhelmed by the problem that we don't do anything at all. I want to make sure that any promotion I get is genuine promotion that did not come with any cost from me. That's just an important part of my principles.