Archive for the "Press Releases" Category
Let V-Season begin –
Beginning today, activists can register to produce a 2016 V-Day benefit production of The Vagina Monologues and/or A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer. The two artistic works will be available free of charge to registered activists producing benefit performances during the month of February. By focusing the benefit performances during one month – February – we maximize the impact. Already
returning organizers in over 130 locations have signed up for the 2016 season.*
Each year, thousands of V-Day benefit events take place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world. These efforts have raised consciousness, changed laws to protect women and girls, funded rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters (in many cases these much needed funds kept them from closing), educated their communities, and raised over $100 million in urgently needed funds for groups doing the essential work of ending violence and serving survivors and their families.
Since V-Day launched in 1998, activists have also staged their own works, reflecting the voices in their communities. If you would like to foreground new voices in the conversation around ending violence against women, we encourage you to do so by curating stories from your community and creating a new artistic evening that you present separately. Many organizers have done this, both instead of The Vagina Monologues and in addition to The Vagina Monologues. Consider revolutionizing your art and activism by creating new artistic events local writers, activists and artists. READ about some examples from past years >
The Revolution continues – One Billion Rising: Rise for Revolution 2016 is an escalation of the first three stages of our campaign. We’ve danced, demanded justice, and demanded changes. This year we are radicalizing our actions- enlarging, deepening and expanding the revolution. Radically shifting consciousness with braver, bolder, more creative and determined actions that focus on the most marginalized women and girls to bring about true, long lasting change.<
V-Season is now open for registration! Visit the V-Spot to register your
February event.
As always, please contact us at campaign@vday.org if you have any questions.
*If you wish to perform the play in other months, you may purchase the rights from Dramatists Play Service. Performance rights information can be found at www.eveensler.org/plays.
On behalf of One Billion Rising activists, we would like to appeal to the Indonesian government for clemency for Filipina migrant worker Mary Jane Veloso, who is awaiting execution in Indonesia. We are asking Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to spare Mary Jane’s life as she is clearly a victim of both trafficking and economic violence. Mary Jane is due to be executed on Tuesday, April 28th, for carrying 2.6 kilos of heroin into Indonesia, a crime she has pleaded not guilty to as she was deceived and manipulated into doing it. But what is not as visible to society at large and to the world are the invisible hands of poverty and grave economic need that so desperately drive women like Mary Jane out of their home countries and into worst forms of economic enslavement, exploitation and abuse in other countries. Mary Jane was first a victim of human trafficking, having been tricked into a false job in Malaysia.
She was then victimised a second time when, upon arrest, she lacked access to justice outside her home country. Faulty legal procedures and court-provided interpreters gave Mary Jane huge challenges and difficulties understanding the legal proceedings. But what has to be understood is that before she even left to work abroad, Mary Jane was already a victim of forced labor migration, pushed by poverty to seek employment away from everything she knew to be home, by any means possible and available to her, just so that could provide food and education for her two young sons. As a single mother, it must have been harrowing to leave her infant children behind. And even more harrowing is the fact that she has sat in an Indonesian jail for five years where, today, her two young sons are saying goodbye. Saying good-bye to their mother they barely knew, pulled away from them so early, only to be executed by firing squad for simply having the desire to give them a better future. People like Mary Jane should not be the ones punished for wanting only what is humanely due to people – a dignified life where aspirations for their children are cradled and nurtured in possibility and hope. The ones who should be accountable are the people who tricked her, who used her, and her government that is mandated to protect and respect her basic human rights for a dignified life. Not a single mother from a peasant family, reared in poverty caused by the exploitation of resources, who are then pushed to migrate – only to be used as cheap and dispensable labor.
We urge President Joko Widodo to save Mary Jane – and to treat her not as a criminal, but as a victim of successive and incessant exploitation. It is all our responsibility to understand the contexts of economic deprivation and exploitation and its connection to the escalating violence being experienced by women all over the world – and do everything in our power to challenge and change the system that perpetuates this violence.
We, the global One Billion Rising community, RISE in solidarity with Mary Jane. We RISE for JUSTICE for her. And we will continue to RISE for REVOLUTION for all migrant workers around the world – to demand their dignity, respect, equality and freedom.
Eve Ensler
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
CJ Frogozo, 310-570-2622, cj(@)fitzgibbonmedia.com
One Billion Rising, 917-865-6603, media(@)vday.org
ONE BILLION RISING: Revolution
Activists Called for Radical Shift to End Violence Against Women in Thousands of Global Events in 200 Countries
Massive Youth Risings Took Place Worldwide, Campaign Trended in UK
In Hong Kong, Activists Danced for Justice for Erwiana Last Year. This year, Erwiana Danced
Photos from Global Risings Coming Soon
17 February 2015 – On Saturday, 14 February, One Billion Rising: Revolution activists in more than 200 countries around the world rose to end violence against women and girls, and called for a radical shift in consciousness to end the global epidemic of abuse that one in three women face worldwide. For the third year in a row, women, men and youth took part in the One Billion Rising campaign leading and participating in actions, dance, political and artistic events, and rallies — or Risings — in hundreds of countries on (and around) the date of 14 February. These risings highlight, spark and mobilize artistic and community-driven actions to bring in a new revolutionary world of equality, dignity and freedom for all women and girls.
For 48 hours as 14 February dawned across the world, grassroots activists staged risings and shared their activities, videos and images across social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. In addition to using the suggested hashtags #1billionrising and #rise4revolution, activists launched the hashtags #whyirise, #VetsRising #SomosRevolución, #UnBillónDePie, #choberises and more. Impact of the campaign was immediately seen in Hong Kong, as Erwiana danced and was at the center of the rising. Last year, domestic and migrant workers rose for Erwiana, but this year, after having received justice in the case against her employer, she danced. Similarly in the UK, which has been rocked by a series of high profile child abuse cases, activists focused their rising at London’s famed Marble Arch on ending child sexual abuse.
One Billion Rising, which launched on Valentine’s Day 2012, began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that one in three women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at seven billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. Since 2013, One Billion Rising has put out the call to overhaul, challenge and demand change in a social system that inflicts so many forms of violence and injustices on women. Activists have staged RISING events, bringing the issue front and center, garnering worldwide media attention, changing laws, and demanding justice and an end to the rampant impunity that women survivors of gender based violence face.
“Countries and communities around the world determine how and why are they rising, bringing into their actions local issues and contexts and their own self-determined aspirations of the change they want to see happen as they continue to rise and demand justice. But they also know that they are connected to a huge and diverse global movement that brings global solidarity and allows local issues to be made visible not just within the national spotlight, but also within the international context. Like years before, in many countries around the world the grassroots communities led the campaigns, and opened up a deeper consciousness and understanding of the many forms of violence affecting women,” stated Monique Wilson, Director of One Billion Rising.
“There is so much madness and suffering, so much exploitation and violence, but we are flying in another direction, fueled by our collective decision to end violence and rise for love and revolution. We dance in a new landscape calling up our dreams of a world where women breathe and walk and live freely. Where they are deeply valued, where their bodies are sacred, where the obstacles to them rising are erased. We drum our hearts back so we never again forget our inseparability. May we overthrow all repressive mindsets and usher in the time of love,” stated Eve Ensler, playwright, activist and Founder of V-Day and One Billion Rising.
By dancing and rising, local communities shine a light on the rampant impunity and injustice that survivors most often face. Activists DANCE to: show outrage at the alarming statistics of violence and impunity happening worldwide; as a creative means of demanding accountability and justice; and as an energy that also boldly states that we, as an activist community, will no longer condone systemic violence and injustice. Activists RISE to call for a new kind of consciousness – one where violence will be resisted until it is unthinkable. At a meeting in Rome last Spring, One Billion Rising’s global coordinators chose the theme of “Revolution” for 2015 as an escalation of the demand for justice, and to build upon the massive efforts of communities worldwide that also looked at the roots and causes of violence as part of their call for justice. In 2015 we saw millions of activists heed the call and rise for REVOLUTION to change the paradigm and knock down the system so that the healing of our planet and its women can be possible.
The scope and the scale of the activities are vast and yet specific. In the Philippines, activists rose to oust their president. In Miami activist rose to end sex trafficking. In India, they rose for the power of love, not the love of power. Local One Billion Rising activists—including students, women’s, environmental, social justice and peace groups, transgendered, farmworkers, domestic and migrant workers, community groups and mothers rising for their daughters—reflect the expansiveness of violence against women issues that concern them locally, while also demonstrating the power of networking across groups and sectors to leverage the global nature of the campaign.
Some places rose to save their rivers, some their mountains. In the United States, some rose to demand wage increases for restaurant workers who are paid $2.13 and rely on tips to support themselves, which contributes to the fact that sexual harassment is more rampant in the restaurant industry than in any other economic sector in America. Domestic workers rose to end modern day slavery, workers rose for long term jobs and benefits. Women rose outside prisons to demand justice. Pakistan rose for peace. Veterans rose across America for an end the rape in the military. There was a red light rising in Calcutta. Millions rose to end poverty, racism and imperialism. In Zimbabwe they rose with local chiefs to continue the commitment to make ending violence a priority. Men rose everywhere to put their bodies on the line with women. In the Balkans they rose to redress impunity over war crimes committed during the Bosnian war. In Somalia, Sudan and Iran they risked their lives to rise and say that what happens to women’s bodies matters. In Kenya and The Gambia they rose to end the genital cut.
From Mexico to Miami activists rose to end sex trafficking, women bikers rose in Geneva, disabled women rose online, Native American women rose in the Bakken oil fields to end fracking and the direct connection to sex trafficking and abuse. Trans women rose to end the murders and violence they routinely face. There was a rock dance revolution in Vegas and a tango revolution in Italy. In the UK they rose against the grooming of young girls to be sex slaves. Drummers rose for the One Earth, One Heart drum event that began in the morning on the 14th and followed the sun across the planet. Activists rose at the pyramids in Mexico, in malls in Japan, on college squares, in churches, outside corporations, inside city halls.
Risings will continue leading up to and on 8 March, International Women’s Day, owned by communities across the world and driven by grassroots groups. On 21 February, Eve Ensler will give a keynote speech at the Lahore Literary Festival where Eve, OBR director Monique Wilson and OBR South Asia coordinator Kamla Bhasin will participate in a One Billion Rising panel discussion and an artistic event. In Mexico, events are taking place 18 February in Cuajimalpa, 19 February in Chetumal, 28 February in Monterrey, 3 March Auditorio Nacional (International Women Day), and 7 March in Tijuana, with additional events being added. Activists in Guyana, Haiti, and Kenya will hold their events on 8 March, marking International Women’s Day.
Also on 8 March, satellite TV network Link TV is scheduled to air the “State of Female Revolution” panel moderated by GRITtv‘s Laura Flanders and featuring Agnes Pareyio (Kenya), Monique Wilson (Philippines), Zoya (Afghanistan), Christine Schuler Deschryver (Democratic Republic of Congo), Kimberlé Crenshaw and Eve Ensler. The panel is a conversation about what it takes to build revolution, be in solidarity, and affect change.
It is clear that risings will continue for the next months and that this campaign has been owned by communities across the world and driven by grassroots groups.
Highlights from this year’s campaign include:
#rise4justice and #1billionrising taking over social media: campaign related hashtags trended in the United Kingdom on 14 February. Tens of thousands of images, videos, art pieces, and messages of support and defiance spread across our networks on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google Plus.
The One Billion Rising Homepage (www.onebillionrising.org)
continues to serve as a one-stop location for the campaign, with updates from grassroots organizers, access to event videos, links to coverage of the campaign and statements from across social media. Events in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Lima, Peru were live streamed online for immediate viewing; others were captured via live tweeting and Instagram.
Vast International coverage of the campaign, thousands of media outlets across the planet covered local events. Coverage included The Guardian, La Reforma, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now, GritTV, The Pinoy, Associated Press, The View, The Huffington Post, BBC, and many, many more
Youth RISING: One Billion Rising: Revolution saw young adults, school children, even babies brought to the front of the campaign. Thousands of youth around the world danced to the anthem “Break the Chain” and demanded access to education as a keystone of the revolution. Young women in Mumbai flooded the streets to speak out against street harassment. Mothers and fathers brought their children of all ages to events and danced with them in their arms, hand in hand. In the UK, girls rose to end female genital mutilation (FGM). In Oakland, the Radical Brownies appeared at their Artistic Uprising evening. Girls of all ages danced, sang, expressed the feminine, slammed poetry, and stood in solidarity.
Rise for the Raise, Workers Rising: The intersection of economic security, ending workplace sexual harassment, strong labor laws and the ability for women to thrive was amplified by multiple risings this year. We saw women demanding an end to the exploitative contractualization of labor and unfair working conditions. Restaurant workers and customers who support #1FairWage called on legislators to raise the minimum wage and on CEOs to pay workers a livable wage in the U.S. One Billion Rising joined ROC United to get the word out about a series of actions on this issue. On 13, February, a national action in the United States took place on ROC’s annual day of action.
Artistic Uprisings, DRUMMING: Since it began, One Billion Rising has been about the power of merging activism with art, the synthesis of expression and political action. This year communities used dance, art and drumming to express their joy and their outrage and demands. They used rhythm to protest and to come back into their bodies. They reclaimed healthy sexuality and healthy love. One Billion Rising: Revolution kicked off this year’s events with a one-night-only benefit that brought together a groundbreaking group of performers and artists in NYC on 7 February.
Breaking the Silence: Every year we see the power of releasing stories, releasing pain and trauma, and the healing power of a community coming together to hold the space for testimonials. This year sex trafficking survivors spoke out in defiance of their captors, veterans denounced the continued culture of denial of sexual abuse in our military, and survivors shared their My Revolution stories online.
Men Rising: This year, men led and organized groundbreaking, revolutionary initiatives, serving as an inspiration for other men around the world to be part of the radical shift in consciousness in how women and girls are treated and seen on the community and global level.
Escalating the numbers, expanding risings within countries: In many countries there was an escalation within. More than 240 risings took place this year in The Philippines, 130 in Italy (with 5 in Rome alone), and more than 132 in Germany.
To read global highlights and updates from the One Billion Rising global coordinators, visit onebillionrising.org/2015reports.
# # #
ONE BILLION RISING: REVOLUTION is an energy, a platform, a global movement, a catalyst, a worldwide decision to end violence against women, a demand for justice, a paradigm shift, an invitation, a gathering of the ready, housed everywhere, housed in our hearts, you, us, REVOLUTION.
One Billion Rising is a global initiative to raise awareness of—and end—violence against women. 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime, adding up to more than one billion women and girls.
http://www.onebillionrising.org
KEY LINKS:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
CJ Frogozo, 310-570-2622, cj(at)fitzgibbonmedia.com
V-Day, 917-865-6603, media(at)vday.org
Activists Across the Globe Mobilize for One Billion Rising: Revolution Campaign
Third Year of Mass Anti-Violence Campaign Kicks Off with ARTISTIC UPRISING Event at NYC’s Hammerstein Ballroom on February 7
Series with The Huffington Post Features First Person Profiles of Global Activists
January 27, 2015 – One Billion Rising, the largest global action to end violence against women and girls in human history, is launching its third year with One Billion Rising: Revolution, a new escalation that calls for a radical shift to end the global epidemic of abuse that women face worldwide.
With the tagline “Drum, Dance & Rise,” women, men and youth will plan, lead, and participate in actions, dance, political and artistic events, and rallies –or Risings–in hundreds of countries on (and around) the date of February 14th to highlight, spark, and mobilize artistic and community-based initiatives to bring in the new revolutionary world of equality, dignity, and freedom for all women and girls.
For a full list of global Risings, please visit: http://www.onebillionrising.org/events
“1 in 3 women across the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. That’s one billion women and girls. Every February, we rise – in hundreds of countries across the world – to show our local communities and the world what one billion looks like and shine a light on the rampant impunity and injustice that survivors most often face,” stated Eve Ensler, playwright, activist and Founder of One Billion Rising. “We rise through dance to express joy and community and celebrate the fact that we have not been defeated by this violence. We rise to show we are determined to create a new kind of consciousness – one where violence will be resisted until it is unthinkable. This year we are rising for Revolution.”
At a meeting in Rome last spring, One Billion Rising’s global coordinators chose the theme of “Revolution” for 2015 as an escalation of the prior two years, building upon the successes and wide-scale networks that have been mobilized to date. Since 2013, activists in more than 200 countries have staged RISING events, bringing the issue front and center, garnering worldwide media attention, changing laws, and demanding justice and an end to the rampant impunity that women survivors of gender based violence face.
Thousands of events will take place around the world the week of February 14th. One Billion Rising will host a kickoff event in New York City at Hammerstein Ballroom on Saturday, February 7th. The one-night-only benefit will bring together a groundbreaking group of performers and artists united around the common goal of ending violence against women, including: Tony Award winning playwright, performer, activist & founder of One Billion Rising and V-Day Eve Ensler; actress and V-Day Board member Thandie Newton; actress Kathy Najimy; Orange is the New Black actress and long-time V-Day activist Emma Myles; actor, comedian, and activist Rosie O’Donnell; Brooklyn-based artist Swoon; singer-songwriter Maya Azucena; international music group Batala NYC; activist musical group BETTY; band Y3K; multimedia & spoken word duo Climbing PoeTree; City of Joy and V-Day Congo Director Christine Schuler Deschryver (Congo); poet and spoken word performer Asali Devan Ecclesiastes; poet and vocalist Gina Loring; anti-FGM women & girls’ rights activist Agnes Pareyio (Kenya); poet, singer, and activist Sunni Patterson; theatrical dance & extreme action company STREB; beat boxer, actor, and youth activist Karabo Tshikube (South Africa); artist and performance poet Jaha Zainabu; women’s rights activist Zoya (Afghanistan); One Billion Rising Director Monique Wilson (Manila and Singapore); and others to be announced.
For a full list of participants and ticket sales information, go to: http://www.onebillionrising.org/tix
This year, the One Billion Rising leaders are also sharing their stories in a joint series with the Huffington Post, entitled “Building to One Billion: Revolution.” Writers for the series include Khushi Kabir (Bangladesh), Sohini Chakraborty (India), Agnes Pareyio (Kenya), Rosi Orozco (Mexico) Jessica Montoya (Santa Fe), and Nakima Jones (United States). The series will continue through 14 February.
Actions will escalate on the One Billion Rising website, which acts as a global hub for the risings and where people are encouraged to share their stories of revolution in the fight to eradicate violence against women. Answering the call for videos, blog posts, photos and art has been a range of artists, scholars, musicians, and poets. The site features “My Revolution” statements from actor and V-Day Board member Thandie Newton, feminist scholar Zillah Eisenstein, Climbing PoeTree, Asali Devan Ecclesiastes, as well as activists and local organizers. Eve Ensler’s monologue inspired by the campaign is entitled “My Revolution Lives In This Body.”
Back by popular demand, “Break the Chain” will remain the official anthem of One Billion Rising. The song was written and produced by legendary music dynamo Tena Clark, and choreographed by dance icon and award winning choreographer Debbie Allen, and is used in One Billion Rising protests, social justice actions, and risings worldwide. Activists around the world have translated the song into multiple languages and local artists have recorded it as seen in the short film One Billion Rising for Justice.
The scope and the scale of the activities are vast and yet specific. Local One Billion Rising activists reflect the violence against women issues that concern them locally, while networking across groups and networks in their communities and leveraging the global nature of the campaign. From actions scheduled in 34 Afghan provinces – including an event for 1000 at Kabul University, to VetsRising, a campaign organized by US military veterans who have experienced MST (military sexual trauma) to Rise for the Raise seeking fair wages that will take place throughout the United States, in the Philippines and more, Rising events are planned across the globe. (To learn about more local risings, visit http://www.onebillionrising.org/blog)
ONE BILLION RISING: REVOLUTION is an energy, a platform, a global movement, a catalyst, a worldwide decision to end violence against women, a demand for justice, a paradigm shift, an invitation, a gathering of the ready, housed everywhere, housed in our hearts, you, us, REVOLUTION.
# # #
One Billion Rising is a global initiative to raise awareness of–and end–violence against women. 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime, adding up to more than one billion women and girls.
http://www.onebillionrising.org
To read the longer version of the press release with recaps of rising activities around the globe, click here >
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Susan Celia Swan / Kate Fisher
media(@)vday.org; 917-865-6603 (c)
ONE BILLION RISING: REVOLUTION
One Billion Rising Campaign Launches Third Year
Risings Will Focus on Highlighting, Creating and Envisioning New, Brave and Radical Artistic Initiatives to Bring in the New Revolutionary World of Equality, Dignity and Freedom for all Women and Girls
New Video and Images Featuring Global Activists Unveiled
15 September 2014 – Today, One Billion Rising (OBR) launched the third year of the campaign ONE BILLION RISING: REVOLUTION, building upon the first two – One Billion Rising and One Billion Rising for Justice. The last two years we’ve mobilized, engaged, awakened and joined people worldwide to end violence against women. The campaign highlighted the fact that violence against women is a global human issue, not relegated to country or tribe or class or religion, further exposing it as a patriarchal mandate, present in every culture of the world.
At a summit in Rome in Spring 2014, the campaign was envisioned collectively by the One Billion Rising global coordinators. Their shared voices – from regions around the world – came to a unanimous decision to focus on revolution and change as an escalation of our demand to end violence against women and girls once and for all. Now that we have brought the issue front and center, now that we have pushed our justice issues forward, we are not waiting anymore, this is the time for revolution, 2015 is a year for change.
ONE BILLION RISING: REVOLUTION is an energy, a platform, a global movement, a catalyst, a worldwide decision to end violence against women, a demand for justice, a paradigm shift, an invitation, a gathering of the ready, housed everywhere, housed in our hearts, you, us, REVOLUTION.
With the tagline “Drum, Dance & Rise,” launches are taking place today in Dhaka, Delhi, Manila, Sarajevo, Zagreb and Guatemala City. Also, released today is the next video in OBR’s signature series. The nine minute short film entitled ”One Billion Rising for Justice” was directed by Kirthi Nath and features footage shot last year by amateur and professional cinematographers in 200 countries, as well as interviews with OBR global coordinators shot at the Rome summit.
“We’ve danced. We’ve demanded justice. Now we are demanding REVOLUTION. And only a radical shift in consciousness, and braver, bolder and more creative and determined actions can bring about change,” stated Monique Wilson, Director One Billion Rising.
Risings will focus on highlighting, creating and envisioning new, brave and radical artistic initiatives to bring in the new revolutionary world of equality, dignity and freedom for all women and girls. The One Billion Rising website echoes the call for “My revolution…” inviting activists worldwide to post their own video and photo statements, as well as music and artwork. New content featured includes blog posts from the GABRIELA movement in the Philippines and One Billion Rising global coordinators Rada Boric (Croatia), Abha Bhaiya (India) and Karabo Tshikube (South Africa). Eve Ensler has penned a new monologue inspired by the campaign, entitled “My Revolution Lives In This Body.”
The guiding statements of this year’s campaign were developed by the global coordinators. They are:
Change can happen if grassroots movements and marginalized communities are in the lead.
Change can happen if we demand accountability – making sure our justice calls last year are realized. We are going to continue to demand justice, and will continue to highlight the issues surrounding the social injustices inflicted on women, and to keep highlighting where these issues connect. We will continue to challenge institutions, governments, policies, laws – and make these systems, which are responsible for creating situations of poverty and violence, accountable.
Change can happen if we harness our creativity and energy. We will highlight, create and envision new, brave and radical artistic initiatives to bring in the new revolutionary world of equality, dignity and freedom for all women and girls. There is nothing more powerful than art as a tool for transformation.
Change can happen if…WE ACT NOW. AND WE ACT TOGETHER.
Activists and grassroots groups will mobilize utilizing the campaign to raise up their work and move the needle on both global and local activism. Examples this year include Rise for the Raise, Men Rising, Youth Rising, and Campus Rising.
The calendar of events is just beginning, but already the following is planned:
12 September: “Women Rising Against Corruption” OBR Revolution launch – Manila City and satellite events around the Philippines (coordinated by OBR Director Monique Wilson)
15 September: OBR Revolution launches
Dhaka, BANGLADESH (coordinated by OBR Bangladesh coordinator Khushi Kabir)
Himachal, INDIA (coordinated by OBR India Coordinator Abha Bhaiya)
Kathmandu, NEPAL (coordinated by OBR South Asia Coordinator Kamla Bhasin)
Manila, PHILIPPINES (coordinated by GABRIELA Women’s Alliance)
Sarajevo, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (coordinated by V-Day activist Danijela Zivanovic and OBR Balkans Coordinator Rada Boric)
Swaziland (coordinated by OBR Swaziland Coordinator Colani Hlatjwako)
The Gambia (coordinated by OBR Gambia Coordinator Isatou Touray)
21 September:
March for Climate Change with Eve and OBR – New York City, US
24 September:
OBR Tour: “The Vagina Monologues” in Parliament/ OBR Revolution launch Port Au Prince, HAITI
26 September:
OBR Tour: OBR Revolution launch – Miami, FLORIDA
29 September:
OBR Tour: OBR Revolution launch – GUYANA
7 October:
OBR Revolution launch – Guatemala City, GUATEMALA
More to come…
This year’s campaign will leverage the activism on a mass scale that we have witnessed the past two years when ONE BILLION women and men stood up and said no more, we demand justice and an end to violence against women and girls once and for all.
To get involved with V-Day and ONE BILLION RISING Revolution:
- SIGN UP at www.onebillionrising.org
- LIKE US on Facebook at Facebook.com/vday
- FOLLOW on Twitter @VDay #rise4revolution #1billionrising
- RECEIVE text message updates, text BILLION to 50555 (US only)
- READ about the campaign,
- WATCH the new short film “One Billion Rising for Justice”
BLOG updates from Global Coordinators and activists http://www.onebillionrising.org/blog
# # #
About One Billion Rising
One Billion Rising was the biggest mass action in human history. The campaign, launched on Valentine’s Day 2012, began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. On 14 February 2013, people across the world came together to express their outrage, strike, dance, and RISE in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women. Last year, on 14 February 2014, One Billion Rising for Justice focused on the issue of justice for all survivors of gender violence, and highlighted the impunity that lives at the intersection of poverty, racism, war, the plunder of the environment, capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy. Events took place in 200 countries, where women, men, and youth came together to Rise, Release, and Dance outside of court houses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings, work places, sites of environmental injustice, military courts, embassies, places of worship, homes, or simply public gathering places where women deserve to feel safe but too often do not. The campaign was covered widely by media in all corners of world including The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, and many more. www.onebillionrising.org. Visit www.onebillionrising.org
We,
V-Men from all provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo gathered in Forum from August 13th to August 14th, 2014 in Bukavu,
Aware of women’s cry; “Where are men?”
Aware that violence against women persists in all countries on the global scope and undermines the foundations of the society,
We are determined to think for three days on the theme: “restoring the dignity of the woman is to put the Democratic Republic of Congo in the orbit of sustainable and harmonious development”
If we have taken the commitment to be Congolese V-Men, it’s because we believe that every man who takes part in this forum is able to help fight against these scourges of discrimination against women, gender-related violence in their cyclical and structural context and consider the woman and the girl as our most valuable resources:
There is no fate: together Congolese intellectuals, parents, neighborhood leaders, community and religious leaders, political and administrative authorities, police and justice, we can change the course of events,
Together; children, adults, young and old, we must mobilize to denounce the rape that women and children undergo, create early warning mechanisms to restore security in our communities, end impunity, promote gender equality and values that can liberate men and women from some backward traditions.
For this to happen, each of us, in his of everyday deeds must work for the passage of a deconstructed to a consistent society.
V-Men DR Congo
Bukavu, August 14th, 2014
Late last week the anti-violence movement was saddened to learn that the
founder of the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Tillie Black Bear, had passed on. V-Day had the honor of working with Black Bear in 2003 when she served as an advisor to the Indian Country Project alongside other Native American elders on the Kitchen Cabinet board.
The Indian Country Project’s leader and Native Women’s Activist, Suzanne Blue Star Boy, has shared the following statement of remembrance:
I had been aware of Tillie’s work since I was a young woman living in South Dakota on the Yankton Sioux Reservation. Tillie lived about three hours away on the Rosebud Reservation. She became the face and founder of the Native anti-domestic violence movement in 1978 when she testified to congress about the prevalence of domestic violence in Indian Country at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights thus establishing herself as the Grandmother of the Battered Women’s Movement. As she spoke, I thought to myself “who is this incredible Lakota woman?” Little did I know that she would one day be my guide, my mentor, my auntie.
As a brave leader, she worked with the men in law enforcement on the reservation. She would talk to them, and ask, “Do you protect your wife? Yes, he would say. Do you protect your children? Yes, he would say. Will you protect us? Yes, he would say.” And in this way, behind the scene, she was building support and cooperation. Soon we began to see the policemen wearing pins, on their uniforms, supporting the anti-violence movement. Tillie’s strength was in changing the minds of men as well as domestic violence policy in Indian Country in order to change the lives of women.
Before Tillie, no one was focusing on Native women in a national way. She took in the national movement that was happening to raise awareness around domestic violence and refocused it on Indian Country. Her commitment to ending violence against women and girls on local, state and national levels garnered the recognition of President Bill Clinton in 2000, when he awarded Tillie the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award.
When I think of Tillie, I think about her compassion for women and her fierceness in empowering them. She was so unassuming, she was mindful, she had a quiet resolve, she was a listener. Tillie was able to live every day in the fight for women, she was able to face any adversity because she lived her spirituality. She never separated the spiritual life from her work. She lived compassion, she lived generosity. She was both confrontational and non-confrontational, and was able to work with the men in Indian country because she was leading a movement to protect women, while including men in the conversation.
I want to acknowledge Tillie as a leader for all Native women, as my mentor while I worked on drafting the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), but most importantly as a member of my family. Tillie was with me when the last of my father’s sisters passed away. As I mourned the last of my family she said, “Don’t cry Suzanne, I will Hunka you (adopt you) as my niece. I will be your auntie now.” We burned sage and sang. In that moment, we became family.
As the Grandmother, she journeys on but she leaves for us an incredible legacy to uphold: to remain committed, focused and fearless in ending violence against women and girls.
There is no greater inheritance she could leave.
— Suzanne Blue Star Boy
Eve Ensler has made a name for herself as an activist who uses the dynamic space of a stage to get people talking. Her play “The Vagina Monologues” shattered taboos and ignited a global movement to end violence against women and girls, V-Day. Her latest play, another compelling theatrical experience, “Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around The World”, celebrates the authentic voice inside every girl and it too is a vehicle to empower girls and inspire activism. “Emotional Creature” will be staged in Johannesburg this month, and in Cape Town in August.
Through rants, poetry, questions, and facts, the Tony Award-winning playwright brings to the stage an understanding of the universality of girls around the world: their resiliency, their wildness, their pain, their fears, their secrets, and their triumphs.
Among the girls Ensler creates are an American who struggles with peer pressure in a suburban high school; an anorexic blogging as she eats less and less; a Masai girl from Kenya unwilling to endure female genital mutilation; a Congolese forced into sex slavery; a Chinese factory worker making Barbies; an Iranian student who is tricked into a nose job; a pregnant girl trying to decide if she should keep her baby and a young South African teen defiantly calling for an end to rape. The play is engaging, moving from laughter to tears, and giving audience’s one of the most powerful theatrical experiences of a lifetime.
“Emotional Creature” was shown to young audiences in South Africa, when it was workshopped here in 2011, followed by runs in Paris, Berkeley and New York City, and has had profound responses. Many girls shared that the show and the subjects resonated for them on a personal level, from rape to their sexuality, to racism and economic injustice. Boys said that for them it was the first time that they understood what their female peers were experiencing.
At the helm of the show is Obie award-winning director Jo Bonny and South African, Naledi Award-winning composer Charl-Johan Lingenfelder, whose original music runs throughout the show. Acclaimed South African actress, director, and producer Gina Shmukler will produce the show alongside V-Day’s managing director, Cecile Lipworth, who is also from South Africa. A cast of local actresses, all in their 20s and all fierce activists, has been chosen to perform. They are: Karabo Tshikube, Lara Lipschitz, Barileng Malibye, Vuyelwa Maluleke, Ratanang Mogotsi and Zakeeya Patel.
Ratanang Mogotsi (20) is a member of V-Girls (SA) a global network of young, female activists empowering themselves and one another to change the world, one girl at a time. Ratanang was a member of the original cast when it was workshopped in Johannesburg in 2011.
Activist and actor Karabo Tshikube (22) is a fierce advocate for women’s rights. Tshikube is also a V-Girl and she too was part of “Emotional Creature” when it ran in Johannesburg in 2011. In 2014 she also became a youth co-ordinator for the One Billion Rising youth movement.
Barileng Thato Malebye (25) is involved in educating young people about drama and the theatre industry through the Rare Arts Productions organisation. She is also passionate about breaking the stigma attached to mental health disorders and in March took part in the Festival of Mental Awareness held at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Performance poet Vuyelwa Maluleke (24) uses poetry and the spoken word to highlight issues surrounding women in South Africa, and is currently in the process of publishing a poetry chapbook with the University of Nebraska.
Lara Adine Lipschitz (26), who writes, produces and acts in a web series called “Chin Up”, uses the platform to feature the issues faced by female actors in South Africa.
Zakeeya Patel (26) is interested in empowering women through creating female focused work; work that is created, written and produced by females. Besides appearing in e.tv’s new season of “Mzansi Love”, Patel is also writing a new show about four girls living in Johannesburg.
In addition to the shows UJ Arts Centre and the Baxter Theatre will host “Eve in conversation”. The conversation in Johannesburg will take place on Sunday, 20 July at 6pm and in Cape Town on Saturday, 2 August at 4pm.
“Emotional Creature” will open 18 July at the University of Johannesburg’s Art Centre and run until 30 July. It will have a 10-day run from 6 to 16 August at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town.
About Eve Ensler and V-Day
Eve Ensler is a Tony award winning playwright, performer and activist. She is the author of international phenomenon, The Vagina Monologues, which won an Obie and has been published in 48 languages and performed in over 140 countries. Eve wrote the New York Times Bestseller, I Am An Emotional Creature: The Secret Life Of Girls Around The World. She then adapted it as a play which ran successfully in South Africa, Paris, Berkeley and Off-Broadway. She is the founder of V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls, which has raised over 100 million dollars for grassroots organizations around the world. On V-Day’s 15th Anniversary, it launched it’s most ambitious campaign One Billion Rising which inspired one billion people in 207 countries to Strike Dance and Rise on Feb 14, 2013 for the freedom, safety and equality of women. With the women of Congo, V-Day opened and supports City of Joy In Bukavu, Congo, a revolutionary center where survivors of gender violence Turn Their Pain to Power. Eve starred in the HBO version of The Vagina Monologues. Her play Here was filmed live by Sky Television in London, UK. She co-produced the documentary What I Want My Words to You which won the Freedom of Expression Award at Sundance. Her other plays include Necessary Targets, The Treatment and The Good Body, which she performed on Broadway, followed by a national tour. In 2006, Eve released her book, Insecure At Last: A Political Memoir, and co-edited A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and a Prayer. Her newest critically acclaimed memoir In The Body of the World was just published by Holt.
V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. The V-Day movement has raised over $100 million; educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it; crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns; reopened shelters; and funded over 13,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt, and Iraq. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements and awards and is, one of the Top-Rated organizations on both Charity Navigator and Guidestar. V-Day’s most recent global campaign, ONE BILLION RISING, galvanized over one billion women and men on a global day of action towards ending violence against women and girls.
V-Day is a remarkable example of transforming theatrical success into an effort to truly change people’s lives worldwide.
For more information about Eve Ensler, V-Day and V-Girls, please visit www.vday.org and www.v-girls.org and www.onebillionrising.org
by Barbara Mhangami-Ruwende, Global Coordinator for Southern Africa
Two weeks ago, 234 teenage girls were kidnapped in the Nigerian city of Bornu while taking their exams. It is assumed that the girls were taken by Boko Haram, a local Islamic extremist group whose name means “western education is forbidden.” It is feared that the girls have been sold into marriage to the militants and some have been moved to nearby countries of Cameroon and Chad.
The global movement of activists behind #BringBackOurGirls and countless One Billion Rising organizers and participants have been working tirelessly to bring the plight of the girls to the world’s attention. One Billion Rising coordinator for Nigeria, Amy Oyekunle urged activists across the world to keep this issue in the media attention by using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls on social media as a well as signing a petition. In Germany One Billion Rising coordinator Ivana Smith is organizing events in Bonn and Berlin and she is getting lots of different people involved. Lindsey Horvath, Coordinator in Los Angeles organized a press conference and protest rally and more actions are planned until the girls are brought home. V-Girl Busi Mkhumbuzi has launched a “wear a head wrap” online picket and she now has over 100 people participating in the campaign to #BringBackOurGirls. She has also collaborated with Nigerian students and the University of Capetown and they are having a prayer vigil. In New York activists held up posters and handed out fliers outside the Nigerian Consulate. One Billion Rising enthusiast Thenjiwe Mswane has worked in collaboration with activists, media and civil society organization to get South Africans involved despite the looming National elections. Actions are planned all across the country. Other actions are being planned in Zimbabwe, Swaziland (where they started their protest action today in Manzini and will continue until the girls are brought back), Lesotho and Botswana, United Kingdom, the United States and Italy. One Billion Rising activists are using social media to demand that the Nigerian Government and governments all over the world get involved in searching for the girls and bringing them back home safely.
There are reports that some have died and a number of them are reported to be ill. Since this kidnapping at least eight more girls have been taken from the same region in Nigeria. In over two weeks not a single girl has been rescued and Boko Haram is getting bolder with each passing day.
Though world leaders have not yet directly intervened, we are seeing that the noise being made by the international community, by activists like you, is having an impact.
The United States and Britain have taken initial steps by offering military and technical support, and the Nigerian police have offered a $300,000 reward for help finding the kidnapped girls.
This is only the beginning. We must continue to MAKE A RESOUNDING RISING NOISE and let the world leaders know that WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY!
We are calling on everyone to take a moment on Sunday, 11 May (Mother’s Day in the U.S. and other countries around the globe) to RISE AND MAKE SOME NOISE! Honk your horns. Scream. March in the streets. Protest in front of embassies, consulates, in parks and town squares. And continue to use social media – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc – to let the world know that we will not stop until they #Bringbackourgirls!
MAKE A RESOUNDING RISING NOISE
Sunday, 11 MAY
WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY
#BRINGBACKOURGIRLS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Susan Celia Swan/Kate Fisher
media@vday.org +1 (917) 865-6603
ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE
Women, Men, and Youth in 200 Countries Rose For Justice on 14 February
Global Call For Justice For All Survivors Of Gender Violence, and Ending the Rampant Impunity that Prevails Globally was Unprecedented in Energy & Scope
Campaign Trended In UK, South Africa, and on Facebook
From Flash Mobs In The Streets To Protests On The Steps Of Government Buildings, Thousands Of RISINGS Take Place Across The World, Including Trafalgar Square In London, And The Golden Gate Bridge In San Francisco, And More
21 February 2014 – Last Friday, 14 February, the world rose up to demand an end to violence against women and girls. For the second year in a row, women, men, and youth in 200 countries took part in the ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE campaign, the largest mass action in human history to end gender-based violence.
For 48 hours as 14 February rolled across the globe, activists peacefully gathered outside places where women are entitled to justice and focused the world’s attention on the issue of injustice for all survivors of gender violence and delivered passionate calls for ending the rampant impunity that prevails globally.
“On Friday, a revolution of love and justice took place around the world – with grassroots women leading the way in every country – fusing urgent political justice demands with amazing artistry of dance, song, culture, poetry, art, theatre, and a clear vision of the future they are rising for. A future where women can live with what is their birthright: EQUALITY, DIGNITY and HUMANITY” said Monique Wilson, Director of One Billion Rising. “Grassroots women from all sectors brought the intersections that cause and perpetuate violence towards women and children – deeper into the Rise For Justice campaign with tenacity, fierceness, perseverance, patience, courage, devotion and heart.”
From thousands of grassroots groups and their constituents including Gabriela Women’s Alliance, Amnesty International USA, and Idle No More, to the Secretary General of the United Nations, to Mayors of major cities, community leaders, Members of Parliament and Congress, and college students via #CampusRising, people everywhere came together and rose to make 2014’s ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE campaign an international success.
Highlights from this year’s campaign include:
Protests, rallies, flash mobs, and dancing in places where the movement could not be ignored, including in front of the Presidential Palace in the Philippines, in the middle of towns in Congo, across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, on the steps of Parliament in London, in the streets of Ahmadabad, India, and many, many more events in 200 countries.
Real progress towards creating lasting change, including new sexual assault legislation in Guatemala, introduction of new legislation in Guyana, protests in Indonesia, and many more, reflecting the campaign’s commitment to not only shining a light on the issue of violence, but working and supporting ways to actively end it.
#rise4justice and #1billionrising taking over social media, trending on Facebook, in the United Kingdom and South Africa during the campaign. Tens of thousands of images, videos, art, and messages of support and defiance spread across our networks on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google Plus. Over 20,000 images were shared on Instagram alone.
Connecting together supporters via nearly two-dozen live stream events; kicking off with a march in the Philippines, the One Billion Rising Live Stream included events from locations as diverse as Ahmadabad, Atlanta, Budapest, Bukavu, Cape Town, Dhaka, Georgetown, Islamabad, Jakarta, Lima, London, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, Miami, New York, Rome, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Sydney. One Billion Rising for Justice events were live streamed through our partners at YouTube and shown on our digital hub at onebillionrising.org. Activists streamed from every continent except Antarctica (believe us, we tried).
International coverage of the campaign, including live-blog coverage of the campaign on The Guardian, interviews with MSNBC, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now, CNN, BBC World TV and Radio, Buzzfeed, La Repubblica, El Periodico, Reuters, GritTV, USA Today, Associated Press, Agence France Press, and many more.
Support by global leaders including UN Secretary General Bang Ki Moon, the President of Croatia, Members of Congresses and Parliaments from around the world, and local support from Mayors of dozens of cities, including London, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, among many others.
One Billion Rising awarded “Outstanding Achievement in Development Communications” by Hildegarde Awards. In addition, One Billion Rising Global Director Monique Wilson has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for her lifelong commitment to advocating women’s rights in theater, media, and performing arts.
(RE)DISCOVER THE CAMPAIGN
The momentum from 2014’s campaign can be experienced online, as pictures, videos, and stories continue to pour in from around the world.
For a look on the passion and energy that the 2014 campaign has created, please visit:
One Billion Rising Homepage (www.onebillionrising.org)
The homepage continues to serve as a one-stop location for the campaign, with updates from grassroots organizers, access to event videos, links to coverage of the campaign, and statements from across social media.
The Guardian Live Blog (http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/14/one-billion-rising-to-end-violence-against-women-global-day-of-action-and-dancing-live-coverage)
Read The Guardian’s extended coverage of events from around the world and read a live webchat that V-Day Founder/Artistic Director Eve Ensler conducted with The Guardian readers during the day of mass action.
Watch the Live Streams (http://www.onebillionrising.org)
Watch an archive of live streams from nearly two-dozen events from around the world, and get access to other videos from the day’s events.
Follow the Conversation (#rise4justice and #1billionrising)
Online activists continue to make their voices heard, discuss the campaign, and share event recaps, personal stories, photos, videos, and art on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and others.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
At its core, ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE is about those who RISE and is truly a global grassroots movement. Each year, communities come together to organize for change and to add their voice in calling for an end to violence against women and girls.
Here are just a few of the reactions and statements of support to this year’s campaign:
Kamla Bhasin, South Asia Coordinator, One Billion Rising Campaign: “One Billion Rising South Asia is working to challenge patriarchal mindset and behavior; we are challenging all forms of violence against women and girls. We are asking that our National Constitutions be implemented by all and women and girls be given all the rights and freedoms given to them by the Constitution. We are launching a new Freedom Movement for the women and girls of South Asia. All those cultural and religious practices which go against our Constitutions need to go out.”
Kimberle Crenshaw, Professor of Law at UCLA and the Faculty Director of the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies at Columbia Law School, V-Day Board Member: “Bodies moving spontaneously, but not randomly, are participating in a global conversation about violence. And in dancing at the sites that the Risers select, the risings tell us something about intersectional politics the world over. People — women — live intersectionally — sites where sexism overlaps with economic marginality, racism, environmental degradation, queerphobia, able-ism, xenophobia and the like. Risers show us what the face of intersectionality is by what they choose to resist…[there are] thousands of unique actions that make up the global mapping of how violence festers at the intersections of vulnerability. Dancing at these sites calls attention to these vulnerabilities, and transforms them into sites of resistance. It is coalitional politics on a global scale.”
Isabelle Durant, Vice President of the Europe Parliament: “I am rising on the 14th of February, because it is shocking that a billion women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. A billion is one of every three women on the planet. We need to break the silence about violence against women. I’m rising for justice because I’m over it. I refuse to stand by as more than a billion women experience violence. It is time to stop violence against women, which is unacceptable. It can be stopped and it must be stopped.”
Jane Fonda, actor, author, V-Day Board Member: “Why is this issue important to me personally? My mother was a victim of childhood sexual abuse; she killed herself as a result. And every single close girlfriend I have has been incested. So it’s an issue that’s very close to me…This touches every corner of our life.”
Ivo Josipović, President of the Croatian Republic: “Violence against women and girls is such a problem that we can not turn our eyes away.” The President went on to call for necessary steps to prevent violence and “fast, effective, and stronger” punishment of perpetrators.
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General: “The global pandemic of violence against women and girls thrives in a culture of discrimination and impunity. We must speak out… I am proud to emphatically raise my voice and join the chorus of all those taking part in the One Billion Rising campaign.”
Bernice King, CEO of The King Center and daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King: “My father once said our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about the things that matter… Justice cannot and will not ever be served if we remain silent. My mother, Coretta Scott King, reminds us that struggle is a never ending process, freedom is never really won. You earn it and you win it in every generation. With her words and mine, I say it’s time for our generation to rise… It’s time for the next generation to rise. To not remain silent.” She continued, “In 1963 my father gave a speech at Western Michigan University where he talked about the idea of creative maladjustment. How one does not necessarily want to be maladjusted. How we all want to have a well-adjusted life. Then he goes on to say and I quote, ‘There are certain things in this nation and our world in which I am proud to be maladjusted and which I hope all men and women will be maladjusted.’ His words, as so often the case, are as true today as they were then. We must never ever adjust to violence as normal part of our existence as human beings. We will no longer be shut up, silenced or silent. We must spread our maladjustment to the masses by forming a new coalition called the international maladjusted coalition of One Billion Rising for Justice.”
Winona Laduke, Executive Director of both Honor the Earth and White Earth Land Recovery Project: “I work to try to protect our Mother Earth and it’s the same thing. This fall, many of my community rode our horses out against the tide of oil they are trying to bring in from the Bakkan Oil Fields or from the Tarsands. We rode because it destroys our Mother Earth and it destroys our water. Water in our teachings is the responsibility of women. In order to protect water, you have to stop extreme extraction, you have to stop the insanity going on with overdevelopment and exploitation of our water. So we rode our horses in honor of our water, in honor of our wild rice in honor of our people…We also rode because that extreme extraction brings man camps. And man camps bring violence against women. There are 10,000 men in man camps up in the Tarsands and there is a very active sex trade. There are 10,000 men in man camps in western North Dakota and very active sex trade and violence against women and children. And so what we know is that there is the same kind of philosophy, same kind of abuse that occurs to our Mother Earth occurs to women. It is incumbent upon all of us to continue to resist their entitlement to our bodies, their entitlement to our water, their entitlement to our land. Because no corporation is entitled to any of that. No government is entitled to any of that.
Pink, Recording Artist: “When I read about this organization, how people get together of their own free will and dance, use their bodies, to express their rage- outrage- around the injustice that women feel all over the world, every day- I was inspired.” Additionally, Pink recording a video performing “Break the Chain,” the official anthem of One Billion Rising for Justice.
Wevly, Haitian activist, Center for the Arts, Haiti, age 16: “It was a great experience for me to go to the Garden Studio for the One Billion Rising launch because I was among the fighters against violence and I heard a lot of speeches which gave me strength. I learned things I did not know, how dance can help someone in life; it’s like therapy. That impressed me…What I learned from that is courage and that you can get away from fear by dancing.”
EXAMPLES OF RISINGS
From Flash Mobs to Marches, from Lima, Peru to Trafalgar Square in the heart of London, activists took part in thousands of events happening around the world. Here are just a few of them:
Philippines: A large protest, march and rally took place outside the presidential palace, followed by a parade, a One Billion Rising fair and a concert on the grounds of the University of the Philippines.
India: A Three-day One Billion Rising for Justice campaign focused on land, environmental and economic injustices. On 2/2/14, every state held events with flash mobs, dances, speeches and other public displays calling for an end to violence against women.
Germany: In Berlin, due to the huge crowd, the street behind the landmark Brandenburg Gate was blocked for the RISING. In many cities, mayors and other senior politicians and celebrities confirmed their support and participation.
Palestine: In the center of Ramallah hundreds of women and men showed up from across the country to take part in flash mobs and One Billion Rising for Justice activities. They were joined by the Governorate and the Municipality of Ramallah, in addition to multiple Women’s organizations and cultural groups. Leading up to February 14th, ASHTAR Theatre performed a legislative play called “Even at home” for the Police Academy in Jericho, and at various universities in the West Bank. The play highlighted the issues of domestic rape and ‘Honor’ Crimes.
Afghanistan: Local grassroots activists made the connections to local justice issues, as outlined in this Associated Press article , which illustrates that in action. The Jalal Foundation launched a grassroots caravan for awareness raising on women’s rights and the elimination of violence against women. The campaign targeted 20 districts of Badakshan, including Kishm, Tagab, Teshkan, Daraem, Argo, and Khashand will be replicated in other provinces in the months to follow.
The Gambia: The rising in the Gambia included a street parade and an open forum on ‘Rising for Justice’ that included children, youth, women, and men from all walks of life among other actors in the wider civil society as well as NGOs and development partners.
United Kingdom: London hosted One Billion Rising for Justice 2014 in Trafalgar Square, one of the most popular, recognizable, historically rich and vibrant open spaces in the UK.
United States: From the Supreme Court and Capitol Hill to the Golden Gate Bridge, cities across the county participated in the campaign. In Atlanta, GA, activists gathered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, a historic site of Martin Luther King Jr.
In New York City, students at Brooklyn International High School danced to “Break the Chain.” They live streamed their experience, not allowing the weather to keep them down as they took over the hallways of their school. As the music cut off, the youth kept going, singing the song at the top of their lungs as they continued to dance. This was the culmination of a week worth of events in honor of One Billion Rising which included peer education, teachers incorporating themes of gender equality and justice for the week, and art projects done by the entire school. http://new.livestream.com/accounts/5637577/events/2766175.
Through Campus Rising, students at colleges and universities across the U.S. rose to stop sexual assault on campuses and to hold administrations accountable to properly prevent or adequately respond to the needs of college survivors. Campus Rising leveraged V-Day’s 15-year history at schools across the nation, which has contributed to what is now a widespread dialogue about reforming campus sexual assault policies.
IMPACT OF THE CAMPAIGN
This year’s campaign remained focused on advocating and supporting policy and activities that will have a real result on improving the lives of women and girls.
As a result, laws are being drafted and passed, women are empowered in places of disempowerment, and grassroots networks of women are springing up worldwide. Here are a few examples:
Caribbean: New legislation in the St. Lucian Parliament, creating a Missing Person’s Act in Guyana, the creation of the Top 20 Actions to Rise for Justice and Fight Sexual Violence in Haiti, among many others.
Mexico: A team of lawyers has begun working on cases that have come forward since One Billion Rising 2013.
Southeast and South Asia: Protests at the WTO conference in Indonesia, calling for developmental, economic, and environmental justice for women in the global south.
Germany: All major groups that work on ending violence against women at the federal level have come together and formulated joint political demands for One Billion Rising for Justice in Germany.
Southern Africa: From Swaziland to Zimbabwe, from Lesotho to Malawi and South Africa, One Billion Rising For Justice has reenergized the women’s movement.
Guatemala:
The national school of lawyers is part of One Billion Rising Guatemala and has created V-Lawyers program to attend violence against women and femicide cases.
Panamá:
Has created the first virtual hotline to help women suffering violence, and plans are to expand it internationally.
United Kingdom: Efforts underway to make Sex and Relationship Education compulsory in UK schools, repealing visa laws that put domestic workers at serious risk of exploitation and abuse, and ensuring that vulnerable women are not subject to violence in immigration detention centers.
San Francisco: On the heels of San Francisco’s rising where thousands rose and danced alongside the Mayor, DA, and over 60 anti-violence groups on the steps of San Francisco City Hall, the first ever free legal clinic for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence is being held on Saturday, 1 March. For information, visit http://www.onebillionrising.org/sflegalclinic.
Santa Fe: One Billion Rising inspired the Women’s Justice Center to organize a powerful resistance to the penal profiteers in New Mexico where the incarceration of women is the fastest growing in the U.S.
The Philippines: The PEOPLE SURGE alliance of victims of Typhoon Haiyan, part of the One Billion Rising for Justice task force groups of the Philippines – has already submitted their demands for justice for the victims of the storm directly to the office of the President of the Philippines for immediate financial relief, scrapping the “no build zone policy” which is effectively land grabbing, and to sustain the relief of food and water. Justice for Yolanda/Haiyan victims where women and children were the most severely affected, and where sex and human trafficking due to extreme poverty has escalated, is one the main justice calls of the Philippine Rise for Justice campaign. Nationwide Rise for Justice protests are being held until March 8th. March 8th will see the continuation of the One Billion Rising for Justice in the Philippines – huge marches and dance protest rallies will once again be taking place nationally – to rise for justice for the storm victims, rise against corruption, rise against militarization, rise against price increases of basic goods that affect women and their families, and rise against privatization of public services that deny women and girls basic rights to health and education. Student across the country will continue their “Rise for Education” campaign – where they are saying “NO to prostitution for tuition” – as girls are increasingly being prostituted just to be able to continue going to school.
One Billion Rising For Justice is not simply a day of action, but an activist led effort with global momentum and local impact that occurs in the days leading up to and following 14 February.
KEY LINKS:
- TWITTER on @VDay and #rise4justice
- SHORT FILM the One Billion Rising For Justice short film