Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) spoke at the Knight Studio at the Newseum on Sept. 19. Boxer talked about the major issues concerning gender-based violence. Timothy Bella

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) read the stories of the familiar names one by one.

There was Stacey Thompson, the U.S. Marine who was drugged and raped 14 years ago in Okinawa. Then, Leslie Ironroad, a Native-American woman who was so brutally raped that she died a week later in 2002. And then, there was Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen who was shot in the face by members of the Taliban.

Boxer briefly paused from the podium at the dimly-lit studio at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., before going into the meat of the address.

“Even though I have championed women’s rights and women’s equality my entire career, there have been times in the past when I closed my eyes because what I saw was just too heartbreaking,” she said. “But no more. None of us can afford to look away any longer.

“Not when 35 percent of women around the globe experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetimes. Not when one in six women in the United States will be a victim of an attempted or completed rape. Not when the Defense Department estimates that there were 26,000 sexual assaults in the U.S. military last year alone – and only 10 percent were even reported, let alone prosecuted. And no, we cannot afford to look away when one in three Native American women will be raped in her lifetime.”

On Thursday, Boxer delivered the keynote address at “A Call to Action: Taking a Stand Against Gender-Based Violence,” a special event conducted by CARE, a humanitarian organization focused on women in low-income areas, and The New Republic. The speech is well-timed. In a few weeks, Boxer plans to reintroduce the International Violence Against Women Act, legislation that would use U.S. foreign policy to address violence against women.

This year, there have been signs of progress on the topic from domestic and world leaders. In February, Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act – legislation that states that all women affected by domestic violence and sexual assault should be protected from violence in the U.S. In March, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women made additional commitments to help prevent gender-based violence.

Boxer stressed the need keep the momentum going, even invoking a line from Albert Einstein: "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”

Another advocate in the fight to reduce the rate of gender-based violence is Neil Irvin, executive director of Men Can Stop Rape, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that helps young men redefine masculinity as part of preventing violence against women. Before Boxer's speech, Irvin joined a panel of leading advocates to discuss solutions for gender-based violence.

America Tonight caught up with Irvin after the event. Questions and answers are edited for clarity.