This Valentine’s Day at the #onebillionrising gathering in Paris’s Place de Trocadero overlooking the Eiffel Tower, students of Sciences Po, NGOs, and supporters gathered to denounce violence against women –  dancing in the rain in strength against one of the most oppressive situations that women face.

This movement taking place in cities worldwide on February 14 was dedicated to the over one billion women in the world who experience violence, usually at the hands of their “loved ones.”

– 1 in 3 women and girls in the world face violence in the form of domestic abuse, rape, and sexual violence.

– 1 in 5 deaths is due to domestic violence

Women and girls worldwide suffer behind closed doors, or in the open in communities, environments, and patriarchal societies that condone or even encourage domestic violence. These situations occur in wealthy as well as developing countries, as demonstrated by the numerous domestic abuse scandals by American football NFL athletes against their partners.

While the majority of homicides against men are the acts of strangers, the majority of murders of women are committed by husbands, boyfriends, exs, family members, relatives – in short, people who are considered to love them.