Women of Passion, Working to Help Each Other Accomplish Change

It was a beautiful mild summer morning today and our drive down to Santa Monica was worth getting through all the traffic to be there at 10.

After brunch and a brief meet and greet the four panelists and the two young women who organized and presented the event all resonated with me because one for one in their own way they want to help people, especially women, and have stopped at nothing to accomplish their passions.

I found this very commendable and inspiring and uplifting. And seeing these women, who in their own way are just like me, strengthened my resolve to know that I will prevail in my campaign to #FireMikeRinder and get #Justice4Mom.

More than any other event I’ve attended, the audience response and originations to help me the moment they heard my speech was intense.

One woman was so touched by what I said, she had tears in her eyes, and it made me realize how much support there is out there for me and my movement.

I’m most excited about one woman volunteering to help me get legislation passed to require men who abuse women to be registered, just as sex offenders are. She has very important connections and like me she wants to make change in this arena.

An impassioned woman named Lilly came up to me before I could even sit down told me about her friends that she thought could network with me as they have a similar story to mine. Their step father physically abused their mother, but in their case she wasn’t just damaged for life–he killed her. They got him behind bars, and handling domestic violence is really important to them.

Each panelest I liked for a different reason. But most of all I would like to thank them for allowing me to ask my question and then give me on-point and caring answers and suggestions I could tell they really felt would help me.

I want to thank every woman who was there today, for being there and for taking action to empower women.

The Panelists

Delilah Panio is a hard-hitter who has been to the bottom and back several times and is now in her own way empowering women and setting her own goals to get 3 million women donating to nonprofits for women. Her concept is to channel women, who donate most of the money that goes to charity, and get them to use their buying power to invest in other women and create a huge fund that makes us independent in a male-dominated financial world.

Denise Villamil is just like me. Her passion is one-on-one help and making a safe place for girls and the future generation and taking that as far as she can. I am passionate on any subject related to helping people, so I felt she was a sister.

Laura Hertz connects women who are creating products with companies buying gifts for clients and events. She has channeled work to women who are moving out of being homeless and other sustainable programs making a totally win-win industry.

Renee Zau and her husband created an amazing resource to connect people who want to donate to meaningful causes with organizations in need of their backing--all automated and super easy to use.

The organizer was Charity Prado of SheCatalyst.com, another amazing woman who described how she spent a year mentoring kids in Uganda. Now she’s creating a network of women in the L.A. area who are passionate about important issues and working with each other to accomplish their goals.

I want to thank Charity for organizing this, because it was obvious that it meant a lot to everybody who was there.

I felt empowered by this and have a lot of new ideas on how I can move my campaign forward and get justice4mom! #FireMikeRinder

Modern Day Domestic Abuse: How We Can Offer More Support to the Victims

Domestic abuse, particularly against women in the world, is a hot topic issue in the media today thanks to the powerful #MeToo movement and the exposure of Harvey Weinstein and other notorious sexual predators and abusers. There’s a reason the movement is so popular: 1 in 4 women (24.3%) ages 18-years and older have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner.

Our society has advanced tremendously over the past few hundreds of years; why does such behavior continue?

Media Glorification

For starters, it doesn’t help that abusers are given massive media spotlights. Many of them continue to act and secure their influential role in public, reinforcing their invincibility. While advancements are being made to shed light on this unacceptable practice, little retribution is witnessed for those who deserve it the most.

Taboo Topic

Additionally, until recently, the discussion of domestic violence was considered taboo and inappropriate, forcing millions to keep quiet and bottle up their physical danger until for some – it was too late. It’s uncomfortable to explore what happens to a sizeable portion of the population behind closed doors, and as trillions of conversations unfold online, in-person, and through social media about #MeToo, it’s a good time for all of us to come up with our own solutions.

Changing the System

As it stands, a sex offender is required to register their residency for local agencies, schools, and community members to know. How come we don’t have that type of system in place for domestic abusers? Although nothing is more heinous than the unlawful touching of children, domestic abusers should get their time in the limelight, embarrassed and ostracized by the community surrounding them.

There should be a domestic abuse registry that makes it easy for everyone (mainly women, but also men) to be made aware of who they are dealing with. Since it’s a taboo topic, many times, women end up in relationships and have no idea their partner is capable of physical violence. If there’s a record, it should be registered, and people everywhere should be able to read it.

Lawful Changes

As politicians ponder the issue of domestic abuse and how to curb the alarming rates in the U.S. at this time, I ask everyone reading this to consider their own solutions today. Collectively, we’ve created something as profound as the #MeToo movement. Let’s do it again on a local scale to protect domestic abuse victims around the country from becoming just another statistic.

References:

www.thehotline.org/resources/statistics/

An Epic Day for Women, But Not Over Yet

This is an important day for the #MeToo and @TimesUp movements—an epic day—but it’s not over yet. Men who abuse women are still being rewarded.

I will continue to stand by other women and help them tell their story in any way I can. I understand what they have gone through. My father, Mike Rinder, violently attacked my mother right in front of me, damaging her for life. He should not be allowed on TV as though he were a normal person, but A&E and Disney have turned a blind eye and are paying him to be on the air.

The women who came forward to expose #HarveyWeinstein inspired me to speak out. And I will not stop until Disney and A&E #FireMikeRinder and I get #JusticeforMom.