By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite

Rape in the military is a lot like rape in civilian life. Rapists rape because they can, because the stigma is placed on the victim not the rapist.  And the more closed and hierarchical an institution is, the more the victim is stigmatized and the rapist gets away with it.  This what happens in the church and it is what happens in the military.

By Sandesg Sivakumaran

By Jeff Anderson

Jeff Anderson is an attorney and the founder of Jeff Anderson and Associates in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has represented survivors of sexual abuse by clergy and other authority figures for 28 years.

(CNN) -- As Pope Benedict XVI steps down, the moral authority and future of the Roman Catholic Church depends on the next pope forcefully dealing with child sex abuse in its ranks.

On V-Day’s 15th Anniversary, February 14th 2013, One Billion Rising invites women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to violence against women.

ONE BILLION RISING IS:

A global strike

An invitation to dance

A call to men and women to refuse to participate in the status quo until rape and rape culture ends

An act of solidarity, demonstrating to women the commonality of their struggles and their power in numbers

A refusal to accept violence against women and girls as a given