How to Make Change on Campus Sexual Assault, From Wendy Davis "Women tend to be the drivers of these policies."

When former state Sen.Wendy Davis (D–Ft. Worth) stood in front of the Texas Senate, wearing her iconic pink sneakers, for 11 hours in 2013 to block a vote on an anti-abortion law that would close all but five of the state’s clinics, her words during that epic filibuster mattered almost as much as her actions did. That’s the idea behind Davis’s organization Deeds Not Words, a group that empowers people to take action to change issues surrounding gender equality, as opposed to simply talking about change. Basically, Deeds Not Words is the living embodiment of Davis’s filibuster: It’s proof that we need to stand up (sometimes literally) for what we believe in when words aren’t enough. That’s especially true, she says, when it comes to issues like sexual assault and sex trafficking. The more women we have in politics, Davis says, the more likely we are to make meaningful, legislative change on these issues. But it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to political action.