Taboo Tuesdays - #Bringbackourgirls

At its core, Glow is about the empowerment of women. It’s about us taking charge of our reproductive choices and health. It's about giving women control over their bodies, their lives.

Control and empowerment - that is what Glow strives for. And essentially, that's what brings this amazing community of women together, day after day.

And when events like the kidnapping of more than 200 little school girls happens, we are reminded once again why these values are so important.

There are forces at work - evil forces, the world over - who want nothing more than the subjugation of woman and little girls. They want women to be kept in the dark, ignorant and uneducated. Unable to control even the simplest of decisions: when to marry, who to marry and when and if to have children.

According to the NY Times, the man at the head of the organization who kidnapped more than 276 little girls in Nigeria made these statements:

“Western education should end,” Mr. Shekau said in the 57-minute video, speaking in Hausa and Arabic. “Girls, you should go and get married.” The Islamist leader also warned that he would “give their hands in marriage because they are our slaves. We would marry them out at the age of 9. We would marry them out at the age of 12.”

Let’s make something very clear: a marriage to an unwilling 9 year old is not a marriage. It’s rape. It’s kidnapping. It’s slavery. It’s evil.

This issue goes beyond nationality. Beyond race, culture, and religion. Those are our little sisters out there. Those are our daughters.

Please take a moment today to tweet: #Bringbackourgirls. (If you tag @glowhq, we will retweet your message.) Yes, it’s just a tweet. But it’s also message. It’s a message that little girls matter. That women matter. That our voices matter. 

Thank you!