International Women’s Day

On this International Women’s Day, I am reflecting on the past two months spent volunteering and traveling abroad with women from all over the world. If there is one thing that stays the same across various nationalities and cultures, it is the love and care that women extend to other women through a gender-wide concern for each other’s well being. Language barriers and cultural norms do little to stop women from looking out for each other with a fierce passion. I saw this in the camaraderie that developed so quickly between myself and other female volunteers from Germany, Sweden, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK, just to name a few places. I tasted this in the chai tea the Indian women from the tailor shop made for me each day as I slowly gained my health back after a nasty sickness. I heard it in the detailed directions a Balinese woman gave me to get home from the grocery store one night. I felt it when I hugged my Australian “mum” as she picked me, a complete stranger at the time, up from the airport. Through visible actions like these and the subconscious alliances women make to care for and protect each other, I deepened my understanding of the universal challenges that women face when it comes to physical and emotional safety. I believe that in the United States, there is a desperate need for a platform where young women can learn the most up-to-date safety information, grow in their confidence and independence, and access a community of professionals to support them in this process. Operation Halo is this vision: a startup tackling issues such as physical and sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, human trafficking, coercive control, and so much more. Providing resources for the avoidance of these events and helping survivors is a cause that is very close to my heart. Malala Yousafzai said “I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout – but so that those without a voice can be heard. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.” It is my promise that Operation Halo will face these challenges through education and prevention, and be a voice for all women. 

Sincerely,

Ashlyn