"I am a rape survivor."

That powerful statement by 24-year-old Amanda Nguyen opened a panel on rape culture and violence against women at the 2016 Social Good Summit on Monday. The conversation tackled where we are -- and where we need to go -- when it comes to fully tackling sexual violence around the globe.

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Nguyen was joined by actress and advocate Preity Zinta and moderator Asha Curran, director of the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact at the 92Yin New York City.

In a global society that generally devalues women, violence against those women is a devastating reality. According to the UN, an estimatedone in three women worldwide have experienced either physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives.

"I don't think men can actually comprehend what [sexual violence] does to a woman."

Tackling the violence takes immediate and devoted attention. And survivors like Nguyen are using their personal stories to inspire and enact massive change for the thousands of women impacted by violence every day around the world.

Nguyen founded the organization Rise, which works to improve laws and policy for sexual assault survivors in the United States. Recently, Nguyen and her colleagues at Rise wrote a civil rights bill to spotlight current laws that seem to give the upper hand to perpetrators of sexual assault, rather than victims.

The so-called Survivor's Bill of Rights, which unanimously passed in both the House and Senate earlier this month, was created to help make reporting sexual assault and maintaining rape kits as easy as possible for survivors. The bill still needs the president's signature before it can become law. The unanimous status of the bill is something less than 1 percent of previous bills in U.S. history have accomplished, Nguyen said.

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When it comes to tackling the global phenomenon of sexual violence, Zinta said efforts for women by women -- like Nguyen and Rise's Bill of Rights -- are essential to well-informed laws and progress.

"I feel like when something like this comes up, people react differently to it," she said. "Men react completely differently as opposed to women because I don't think men can actually comprehend what [sexual violence] does to a woman."

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High rates of sexual violence in Zinta's home country of India recently prompted the government to require all cell phones to feature a panic buttonby 2017, hoping to curb sexual assault in the country. In India, violence against women -- including sexual assault and domestic violence -- are reported every two minutes.

But Zinta said while the proposed panic button is well-intentioned, simply attempting to curb sexual violence with the press of a button isn't enough.

"If you don't have the support around it, what does a panic button do?" she asked. "A panic button can say, "beep, alright there's a woman in distress,' but is there a quick way of evidence collection? Is there rehabilitation? It's okay to help someone [in the moment], but what about after that?"

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The Survivor's Bill of Rights -- though only looking to shift laws in the U.S. -- tackles the, "What now?" questions survivors can have after an assault, especially when it comes to protecting and preservingtheir rape kits if they do not feel ready for potential prosecution.

Nguyen said on-the-ground advocacy has been essential to the bill's success. But it hasn't always been easy to advocate for, especially in the halls of Congress.

"There were people who had open arms, and then there were people who threatened me," Nguyen said.

On a particularly hard day, when the advocacy work seemed overwhelming and somewhat unmanageable, Nguyen felt defeated. To lift her up, one of her Rise teammates printed out letters from survivors. He then papered the walls, ceiling to floor, with hundreds of them from all over the world.

"There is a global movement happening here," she said of the women behind those letters, sharing their stories and their triumphs over violence. "And it happens when each one of us realizes the most powerful tool we have is our own voice."

If you have experienced sexual abuse, call the free, confidential National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or access the 24-7 help online by visiting online.rainn.org.

About Social Good Summit: The Social Good Summit is a two-day conference examining the impact of technology and new media on social good initiatives around the world. Held during U.N. Week on Sept. 18 and 19, the Social Good Summit unites a dynamic community of global leaders and grassroots activists to discuss solutions for the greatest challenges of our time. You can watch the event live at socialgoodsummit.com.

This year's summit is brought to you by Mashable, the United Nations Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme and the 92nd Street Y. For complete event details, visit https://mashable.com/sgs.

TopicsSocial Good