Some of us may just, in one-on-one conversations with our family, with our friends, over the back fence with our neighbors, talk about the reality of our lives and realize that we're not alone, that we have a right to be physically safe and emotionally safe in our own homes.

administrator and feminist. She has also advocated electing female candidates and training people to defend clinics from pro-life protesters around the United States. She has advocated extensively for the rights of poor women gays and lesbians and African women.

In 2003 Ireland served for six months as the CEO of the YWCA. She served as president of the National Organization for Women from 1991 to 2001 and publiPatricia Irelandd an autobiography What Women Want in 1996. Before becoming an attorney Ireland worked as a flight attendant.