Stop Violence: Buy Jewelry

What jewelry accessory do Reese Witherspoon, Suze Orman, and Andrea Jung, chairman and CEO of Avon Products, all have in common? The answer might surprise you.

They're all sporting a slender new periwinkle-hued Women's Empowerment Bracelet with a silver-toned infinity accent to symbolize a violence-free future of infinite possibilities for women.

Avon's first ever global fundraising product, the bracelet was created to raise awareness about violence against women around the globe and unveiled on International Women's Day last month at the United Nations. Proceeds from sales of the bracelet will launch a new endowment, the Avon Empowerment Fund, that will contribute to the UNIFEM-managed UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. The first $500,000 from bracelet sales will be matched in 2008 by the Avon Foundation for a total donation of $1 million in new grants, representing the single largest one-year corporate contribution to date.

The bracelet, sold exclusively through the five million Avon representatives worldwide and through the Avon Web site, is priced at $3 in the U.S., and 100 percent of the net profits (that's $2.25 in the U.S.) will be donated to the Avon Empowerment Fund.