Viola Davis delivered a heartlifting, passionate speech at the 2018 Women’s March in Los Angeles, and the crowd was thirsty for more. The Oscar-winning actress touched on some key areas that made absolute sense.
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The real-life queen started by mentioning another famous American.
Sharing some sobering statistics
One out of every five women will be sexually assaulted or raped before she reaches the age of 18. Women of color, if they’re raped or sexually assaulted before the age of 18, are 66 percent more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted again.
Seventy percent of girls who are sexually trafficked are girls of color. They are coming out of the foster care system, and they are coming out of poverty. It is a billion-dollar industry. When they go into the sex trafficking business—and they call it a business, trust me—more than likely, they are gang raped.”
Speaking for the women without voices
“I am speaking today, not just for the #metoo, because I was a #metoo, but when I raise my hand, I am aware of all the women who are still in silence. The faceless women.
The women who don’t have the money, and who don’t have the constitution, and who don’t have the confidence, and who don’t have the images in our media that give them a sense of self-worth enough to break their silence that’s rooted in the shame of assault. That’s rooted in the stigma of assault.”
Sharing her personal story
“Listen, I am always introduced as an award-winning actor. But my testimony is one of poverty,” she said. “My testimony is one of being sexually assaulted and seeing a childhood that was robbed from me.
And I know that every single day, when I think of that, I know that the trauma of those events is still with me today. And that’s what drives me to the voting booth. That’s what allows me to listen to the women who are still in silence. That’s what allows me even to be a citizen on this planet.”
Watch the full video here
