This is from a speech given by Andrea Dworkin in 1983 to the Midwest Regional Conference of the National Organization for Changing Men. It was later published in the Magazine of the men's movement M.
I want a Twenty-Four-Hour Truce During Which There is No Rape
"And I want one day of respite, one
day off, one day in which no new
bodies are piled up, one day in which no new
agony is added to the old, and I am asking you to give it to me. And how could I ask you for
less--it is so little. And how could you offer me less: it is so little. Even in
wars, there are days of
truce. Go and organize a truce.
Stop your side for one day. I want a twenty-four-hour truce during which there is no
rape.
I dare you to try it. I demand that you try it. I don't mind begging you to try it. What else could you possibly be here to do? What else could this movement possibly mean? What else could matter so much?
And on that day, that day of truce, that day when not one woman is raped, we will begin the real practice of equality, because we can't begin it before that day."
This speech is the basis, as I understand it, for A Day without Rape. It's a call to action for the men of any community to get involved and help make the world a safer place for the women they love.
If you would like to put the quotation back in its original context you can visit Andrea Dworkin's Webpage (http://www.igc.org/womensnet/dworkin/liedector.html.) It's near the bottom. I would have written up the whole thing, but that would have broken copyright laws.