Call it white girl's burden, survivor's guilt or whatever you want, but some days I feel ashamed that I have it so good.
I've grown up in a country that has a checkered history about women's rights, but in the end, I feel protected. I know this is partly due to my race, another lottery I didn't enter but apparently won when it comes to privilege.
I don't know much about suffering firsthand, and I certainly don't know what it would be like to face violence simply because I'm a woman with a brain.
Sadly, not every woman has this privilege. Simply by the circumstances of their birth, they may face beating and even death for things like wanting to get married to the wrong guy, talking to a man, getting raped, or, God forbid, getting pregnant.
Life could be hard because of my choices, but it wouldn't end with a man legally killing me because I'd brought shame on the family.
But every day in our world, 13 women and girls die in such a way.
I'm adding my voice to a petition to call on President Obama to support women's rights — particularly the right to be free from violence — as International Women's Day approaches March 8.
It seems obvious what this has to do with faith: "Thou shalt not kill," comes to mind. As does, "In Christ, there is no male or female." And Jesus himself forgiving the woman caught in adultery when a bunch of men were about to stone her.