V-Day Blog Archive

Stage Two Announced: One Billion Rising For Justice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact:
Susan Celia Swan / V-Day
media(@)vday.org; 917-865-6603 (c)

STAGE TWO ANNOUNCED:
ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE

One Billion Rising Campaign Deepens and Expands with Focus on Justice

International Activist and Actor Monique Wilson Named One Billion Rising Director

New Short Film & Website Unveiled

8 July 2013 – Today, V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls, and the One Billion Rising campaign announced the launch of ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE.  The campaign will build upon the energy and momentum that was created in 2013 when one billion activists in 207 countries came together to strike, dance, and rise to end violence against women and girls. This year, we will focus on the issue of justice for all survivors of gender violence, and ending the rampant impunity that prevails globally.

ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE is a call to women, men, and youth around the world to gather safely on 14 February 2014 outside places where they are entitled to justice – 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 is a recognition that we cannot end violence against women without looking at the intersection of poverty, racism, war, the plunder of the environment, capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy. Impunity lives at the heart of these interlocking forces.

“Many of our supporters wrote to tell us that this year they wanted to go further, to go deeper, to address impunity and the lack of accountability as significant factors in the perpetuation of violence against women. ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE is a call to survivors and their allies to break the silence – politically, outrageously, artistically – through art, dance, marches, ritual, song, spoken word, testimonies, and other ways that best express their outrage, their need, their desire, and their joy,” stated Eve Ensler, founder of V-Day and One Billion Rising. “With this launch, I am thrilled to announce that Monique Wilson – an extraordinary V-Day activist for 15 years who literally inspired all 7,000 islands in the Philippines to rise and dance – is joining us as Director of the One Billion Rising campaign.”

“Our stories have been buried, denied, erased, altered, and minimized by patriarchal systems that allow impunity to reign,” said Monique Wilson, One Billion Rising Director, activist, and actor. “Justice begins when we speak, release, and acknowledge the truth in solidarity and community. ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE is an invitation to break free from confinement, obligation, shame, guilt, grief, pain, humiliation, rage, and bondage. It is a call to bring on revolutionary justice.

“The path to justice begins with acknowledging how violence is enabled and perpetuated – calling out where endemic patriarchy and institutionalized misogyny creates a barrier to real justice for survivors,” said Wilson.

As part of the campaign launch, V-Day is debuting a new short film called “Rising,” by South African filmmaker Tony Stroebel (“One Billion Rising,” “The Man Prayer,” “Break The Chain”). The film features global event footage from One Billion Rising 2013 and calls up the new campaign for justice. To view the video, visit www.onebillionrising.org/619/risingvideo/

Viewers can also watch the short film on a new website launched today that gives organizers and activists the ability to easily share this year’s campaign information and to begin to engage in dialogue with their communities.  The website will expand in the coming months with more features, and will continue to evolve in the months leading up to 14 February 2014.

For more than 15 years, V-Day activists have mobilized in more than 200 countries and worked tirelessly on a grassroots level to demand an end to all forms of violence against women and girls. In the face of resistance, V-Day activists have raised consciousness, changed laws, funded rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters (often keeping the doors open), educated their communities, and raised more than $100 million for groups doing the essential work of ending violence and serving survivors.

ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE will continue to leverage the strength of V-Day’s activist network to escalate efforts and create change, calling on women and men everywhere to rise in defiance and in celebration, showing the world the strength of global solidarity and the power of art to educate, transform, and inspire.

To get involved with V-Day and ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE:

• SIGN UP at www.onebillionrising.org
• LIKE US on Facebook at Facebook.com/vday
• FOLLOW on Twitter @VDay; #rise4justice
• RECEIVE text message updates, text BILLION to 50555 (US only)
• READ about the campaign, including a letter from Eve and Monique
• WATCH “Rising”

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About One Billion Rising

One Billion Rising was the biggest mass action in human history.  The campaign began as a call to action based on the staggering UN 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 strike, dance, and RISE in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women. Over 10,000 events took place on the ground and the campaign took over media and social media worldwide for 48 hours, trending in 7 countries – 4x in the US alone.  The wildly successful grassroots 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.

About V-Day
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.  vday.org

V-Day and The Nation Present: BREAKING THE MALE CODE: AFTER STEUBENVILLE, A CALL TO ACTION

MEDIA ALERT

Contact: Susan Celia Swan/Kate Fisher, media@vday.org, 917/291-3082

V-Day and The Nation Present:

BREAKING THE MALE CODE: AFTER STEUBENVILLE, A CALL TO ACTION
A Conversation with Jimmie Briggs, Joe Ehrmann, Tony Porter, Dave Zirin. Special Introduction by Peter Buffett, Moderated by Eve Ensler

March 20, 2013 —  On Tuesday, March 26^th, V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls, and The Nation will present a one night only panel discussion entitled Breaking The Male Code: After Steubenville, A Call To Action, featuring Journalist and Teacher Jimmie Briggs; President of Coach for America and former football player Joe Ehrmann, A Call to Men Co-Founder Tony Porter; and Sports Editor at The Nation David Zirin, with a special introduction by Emmy Award-winning musician and Co-Chair of the NoVo Foundation Peter Buffett, and moderated by V-Day Founder/Artistic Director and Tony Award winning playwright Eve Ensler.

The evening is an opportunity for an open discussion with male leaders in the field and to examine how we can change rape culture while looking at the issues of patriarchy, sex education, and the role of the media in reporting sexual violence. This passionate and timely discussion is open to everyone and will issue a call for intervention, education, and transformation.

WHO: Jimmie Briggs, Peter Buffett, Joe Ehrmann, Tony Porter, Dave Zirin and more, moderated by Eve Ensler
WHAT: Breaking The Male Code: After Steubenville, A Call To Action
WHEN: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM EDT
WHERE: The Paley Center  for Media (New York, NY), 25 W 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019
TICKETS: SOLD OUT. WATCH the livestream here!

For press tickets, please email media@vday.org

About the Panelists

Jimmie Briggs
Jimmie Briggs is an award-winning human rights activist, journalist and author.
Briggs is the founder of the Man Up Campaign, a global initiative to mobilize young people to stop violence against women and girls in their communities through music, sports and technology. Through extensive travels in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, he has produced seminal reporting on the lives of war-affected youth and children soldiers, as well as survivors of sexual violence. Briggs’ work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, LIFE, El Pais, The Village Voice, Fortune, and scores of other publications.

Tony Porter
Tony Porter is the visionary and co-founder behind the nonprofit A Call to Men: The Next Generation of Manhood. Porter’s message of engagement and self-examination has connected powerfully with numerous domestic and sexual violence programs for such high-profile groups as the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, and colleges and universities around the country, including the US Military Academy at West Point and the US Naval Academy at Annapolis. Porter is also an international lecturer for the U.S. State Department, having done extensive work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Dave Zirin
Named one of UTNE Reader’s “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World”, Dave Zirin writes about the politics of sports for the Nation Magazine. He is their first sports writer in 150 years of existence. Winner of Sport in Society and Northeastern University School of Journalism’s 2011 ‘Excellence in Sports Journalism’ Award, Zirin is also the host of Sirius XM Radio’s popular weekly show, Edge of Sports Radio. He has been called “the best sportswriter in the United States,” by Robert Lipsyte. 

He is the author of seven books on the intersection of sports and politics, most recently most recently the acclaimed Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down (The New Press.) which Christine Brennan of USA Today called “the perfect book for our time in sports.”

About Peter Buffett
Peter Buffett is a well-established musician, composer, and producer, as well as Co-Chair of NoVo Foundation. His Emmy-winning album, titled Ojibwe, was released on his own label, BisonHead. Highlights of his film and television work include the fire dance scene in the Oscar-winning film Dances With Wolves and the entire score for 500 Nations, the 8-hour miniseries produced by Kevin Costner for CBS. Peter’s recently released book, Life Is What You Make It, debuted at No. 4 on the New York Times Best Seller Hardcover Advice list and is a companion to his live “Concert & Conversation” performances. As Co-Chair of NoVo Foundation with his wife Jennifer, Peter helps guide the strategic mission of the Foundation.

About Eve Ensler
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 to critical acclaim 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.  Her newest book In The Body of the World will be published by Holt.

About V-Day
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. To date, 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.  Visit vday.org

About The Nation
The Nation, America’s widest read journal of news and political thought, is America’s oldest weekly magazine and delivers breaking news and analysis on politics, social justice, culture, film and the arts.

Rise Against Impunity – Prosecutor Bensouda and Playwright/V-Day Founder Eve Ensler mark International Women’s Day

Rise Against Impunity

Prosecutor Bensouda and Playwright/V-Day Founder Eve Ensler mark International Women’s Day.

On 14 February 2013, one billion people rose in 207 countries to dance and strike and say no to sexual violence. One Billion Rising was an expression of an urgent and deep desire of women and men across the planet to live without constant threat of violation, rape and attack. 

On this March 8th which marks International Women’s Day, the rising continues.  There is still much to be done.  Many societies still deny the existence of gender crimes, ignore them and even shame the victims.  Prosecutor Bensouda and Eve Ensler are joining forces to escalate the fight to end impunity through combined efforts of advocacy and accountability, action and justice.

“We have seen the power of one billion women and men  breaking the silence, rising, healing trauma through dance and outrage, building global solidarity and energy, and rising  on a scale never before seen.  Nextwe must rise against impunity,” stated Ensler.  

“The investigation and prosecution of gender based crimes must be made a priority.  Victims given a voice, their own voice to tell their stories and perpetrators must not go unpunished. Together we can send a clear, strong and consistent message that the use of violence against women as a tool in war is no longer acceptable,” said Prosecutor Bensouda.

« We have chosen to come together  to call on courts, governments, legal bodies to end impunity and hold perpetrators accountable.  We are asking you to join us and rise to end impunity.. »  

The impact of the ICC goes beyond the court room; each case heard further re-enforces the need to change behaviour and prevent gender crimes.  The ICC is currently investigating and prosecuting crimes including gender crimes in Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Darfur region of Sudan, Kenya, Libya, Ivory Coast and Mali.

V-Day is  a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.  On February 14, 2013, V-Day’s 15th anniversary, activists, writers, workers. thinkers, celebrities and women and men across the world came together to demand an end at last to violence against women.  We are rising again.  For more information, visit vday.org and onebillionrising.org.

Note – We will be introducing the new Twitter hashtag #rise2endimpunity on March 8th.

For more information contact :

OTP News Desk
otpnewsdesk@icc-cpi.int

V-Day
media@vday.org
+1 917 865 6603

V-Day’s ONE BILLION RISING is Biggest Global Action Ever To End Violence Against Women and Girls

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Sriya Karumanchi / Group SJR
media@vday.org; 917.267.2931 (o), 248.756.4795 (c)

Susan Celia Swan / V-Day
susan@vday.org; 917.865.6603 (c) 

V-Day’s ONE BILLION RISING is Biggest Global Action Ever
To End Violence Against Women and Girls

Campaign Spread Across the Planet on 14 February 2013,
Tens of Thousands of Events Held in 207 Countries

From a Debate in UK Parliament to a Human Chain in Bangladesh, Dancing in Kabul and Tripoli to rallies in Steubenville, One Billion Rose in City Halls, Schools, Public Spaces, and More

(20 February 2013) – 14 February 2013 marked the largest global action in history to end violence against women and girls. V-Day’s ONE BILLION RISING campaign leveraged the strength of V-Day’s 15-year activist network to mobilize over a billion people worldwide, inspiring women and men in 207 countries to come together and express their outrage, and to strike, dance and RISE against violence.

“We did it! Together on 14 February, we expressed our outrage and joy and our firm global call for a world where women are free and safe and cherished and equal,” stated V-Day Founder and award winning playwright Eve Ensler. “One Billion Rising brought together coalitions of groups and individuals that have never worked together before and galvanized new supporters and associations and masses of men who were not previously engaged, but now see violence as their issue. It did all of this while putting violence against women to the center of the global discussion. One Billion Rising has broken taboos, lifted the veil of silence, and inspired a radical outpouring of support to reveal the worldwide system of patriarchy, which sustains the violence. One Billion Rising has shown that violence against women is not a national, tribal, ethnic, or religious issue, but a global phenomenon, and that through this worldwide rising and support, survivors can be given the confidence of knowing that violence is not their fault.”

The campaign — which also marked V-Day’s 15^th anniversary — mobilized far and wide.  With the motto “it’s not branding, but expanding,” groups worldwide joined the call to action, including marginalized communities such as migrant workers, domestic workers, urban poor, farm workers, the LGBT community, and the disabled. With tens of thousands of events – from the steps of British Parliament to the streets of Mexico City, from the expanse of the Brooklyn Bridge to living rooms in Iran, One Billion Rising was an epic event spanning the 48-hour period of 14 February across time zones. The campaign received the support of entities from the Dalai Lama to the United Nations, trended on Twitter, and inspired flash mobs across the globe, uniting people in a spectacular and unprecedented way.

“One Billion Rising is a joyous recognition of the sacred and how it must never be made profane by any person, institution or government. Violence and oppression of women is the core wound that foreshadows all other problems in the world, from poverty to war to destruction of the environment. Rising is not only a dance, it is the birth of a future, “said Paul Hawken, renowned environmentalist and author of Blessed Unrest.

THE IMPACT

One Billion Rising succeeded in creating visibility and understanding of the interconnection between issues such as poverty, corruption, greed, environmental plunder, imperialism, religious marginalization, immigration, labor, and political repression, and violence against women.

“The next day, ending violence against women was on the lips of every person in Mexico,” said Andrés Naime, One Billion Rising Mexico campaign organizer.  

The campaign has already spurred governments to invite local women to the table to discuss the issue of violence against women, garnered unparalleled international media attention and discourse, highlighted the push to pass the Violence Against Women Act in the U.S. Congress, and brought about a new level of awareness that the time to act is now.

In the UK, MP Stella Creasy introduced legislation for national sex education in schools tied to One Billon Rising.  In Washington D.C., activists gathered and danced at Farragut Square to Rise for VAWA. The week before, the European Parliament plenary voted the resolution “Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls” inspired by One Billion Rising activities. 

One Billion Rising is the beginning of the new world ignited by a new energy. It is not the end of a struggle but the escalation of it, so V-Day asks those who rose around the globe to take a simple pledge, to do one thing in the next year to end violence against women.  It could be a simple action, or a monumental one; personal, or political; quiet or loud, but these actions – taken together – will create change.

One Billion Rising will continue to grow and expand, not to become an annual holiday, but to catalyze the energy that has been activated on 14 February 2013.

SOCIAL MEDIA

The campaign was active across a multitude of social channels including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google+, and Thunderclap, as activists worldwide shared photos, videos, and pledges of support. The#1BillionRising hashtag trended in seven countries, including several times in the United States, and in Peru, South Africa, India, and the United Kingdom. 

Influential supporters including The United Nations and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, V-Day board members Rosario Dawson, Jane Fonda, Anne Hathaway, Thandie Newton and Kerry Washington, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. House Minority Leader Representative Nancy Pelosi, Prime Minister of BelgiumElio Di Rupo, , Russell Simmons, Katie Couric, Alicia Keys, and dozens of others around the world, used their social voice to speak up and support the campaign. To see a collection of tweets, visit www.rebelmouse.com/onebillionrising/

V-Day’s series of campaign videos went viral beginning in September with the One Billion Rising short film which has logged nearly a million views on YouTube, and in November, the One Billion Rising anthem music video “Break The Chain” was released; by 14 February , it had over 900,000 views.

One Billion Rising events were live streamed on onebillionrising.org on every continent except Antarctica (believe us, we tried), including Manila, New Delhi, Johannesburg, Banjul, Bukavu, Belgrade, Frome, Berne, San Remo, Atlanta, Chicago, Toronto, Hawaii, Miami, New York City, San Francisco, and many more.

GLOBAL MEDIA COVERAGE

The campaign was covered widely by media in all corners of world from The New York Times to The Times of India; from Somali television to the BBC World Service; from regional papers in Nebraska to National Public Radio; from The Christian Science Monitor to The Guardian live blog covering the day’s events.  The Guardian and BBC had foreign correspondents covered One Billion Rising events and CNN iReport had their iReporters following the day of action.  Wire services covered the story including The Associated Press.

In the lead-up to 14 February, Eve Ensler appeared on dozens of media programs and completed interviews and press conferences around the globe.  The week before 14 February, Ensler participated in a global tele-press conference from City of Joy in the Democratic Republic of Congo with over 40 international journalists. 

In addition, V-Day Board members and high profile supporters appeared on major national and international television programs to promote the campaign, including Anne Hathaway on “The Tonight Show” during which she danced with host Jay Leno and audience members, Jane Fonda on “Piers Morgan,” Rosario Dawson on “Lawrence O’Donnell,” Thandie Newton on BBC Channel 4, and CNN International, and Laura Flanders on “Democracy Now,” “Up with Chris Hayes,” and “Melissa Harris Perry.”

REACH ACROSS MULTI-SECTORS

The campaign reached across multiple sectors for maximum impact and engagement with activists in 207 countries organizing events and over 13,000 organizations around the globe having pledged their support, including Amnesty International USA, International Rescue Committee, NOW, Human Rights Campaign, AFL-CIO, European Women’s Lobby, WAVE (Women Against Violence Europe) Network, A Call to Men, Verein Autonome Österreichische Frauenhäuser, Centro de Informacion y Desarrollo de la Mujer (CIDEM), Isis Internacional, Asmita Resource Center for Women, and MTV.

Regional coordinators worked around the clock to build grassroots coalitions from Iran to Fiji bringing together people and groups who have never worked together – artists and ministers, bishops and sex workers, Zumba dancers and city council members –converging around a common goal – to eradicate violence against women and girls from the planet.

Union groups around the world rose up demanding an end to the violence and economic injustices that women suffer. Unite the Union in the UK, AFL-CIO and National Nurses United in the U.S., Kilusang Mayo Uno in the Philippines, and many more unions across the globe brought the labor movement into the Rising. Migrant farmworker groups across the U.S. joined the campaign and groups such as Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Farmworker Justice, Centro de Derechos para Migrantes, Campesinos Sin Fronteras, and many more held events, not just for the women involved, but also for other labor women around the world.

HIGH PROFILE SUPPORT

Actors and V-Day board members Jane Fonda, Rosario Dawson, Donna Karan, Thandie Newton, Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington along with Jessica Alba, BETTY, Connie Britton, Kate Clinton, Glenn Close, Jason Day, Francesca Eastwood, Frances Fisher, Jarvis Green, Anne Hathaway, Bianca Jagger, Zoe Kravitz, Dylan McDermott, Kathy Najimy, Yoko Ono, Apollo Poetry, Robert Redford, Anoushka Shankar, Vandana Shiva, Sookee, KaDee Strickland, Marisa Tomei, Mario Testino, Lily Tomlin, Royce White, Monique Wilson, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, and more, activated their networks, attended One Billion Rising events, amplified the message across their social channels, and rose on 14 February.

Governments, politicians, and renowned figures from around the world including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, First Lady of Nepal, the Mayor of Lima, the Prime Minister of Australia and the President of Croatia, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Los Angeles City Council, British MP Stella Creasy, Vice President of the European Parliament, Isabelle Durant (Belgium), Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee joined the campaign.

The United Nations, in unison with its “UNiTE to End Violence Against Women Campaign,” observed One Billion Rising at UN Headquarters in New York City by encouraging staff to join forces and stand up to end violence against women.

EXAMPLES OF RISING

There were tens of thousands of events across the world including over 50 events in Turkey alone, over 100 in the UK and Italy respectively, and thousands in both India and the United States. 

In Manila, the rising began at 7:00 am and activities took place throughout the day from schoolyards to the streets.  In India, events ranged from large-scale dance protests to bus drivers stopping the buses for 10 minutes in acknowledgement of the campaign for the safety of women.  In the Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands including the Governor of South Kivu and residents of City of Joy danced with V-Day Founder Eve Ensler. 

In Mogadishu, Somalia, over 300 men, women and children gathered.  The mayor, members of parliament, civil society, and V-Girls were just some of the people who spoke at this historic event, which was followed by a powerful reception hosted by the First Lady.  In Tripoli, Libya, activists chose to rise and reclaim the “Siraya castle,” where Gadaffi had made his famous speech during the revolution advising the people and mercenaries to “sing, dance and do as they please,” interpreted as a call to rape women.  Throughout Latin America, thousands of activists danced at major monuments and world heritage sites.

In San Francisco, over 4,000 people danced in front of City Hall and took the pledge, led by Mayor Ed Lee. In Steubenville, Ohio, women and men gathered and danced on the steps of the courthouse. In Atlanta 7,000 people took part in a downtown flash mob and a public event was held at the capitol building with appearances by Bernice King, Mayor Kasim Reed, Laura Turner Seydel, and Ted Turner. In New York City, V-Day Board member Rosario Dawson, star supporters Glenn Close and Kathy Najimy, singers Maya Azucena, BETTY and Morley, DJs, and over 3,000 activists danced the night away to celebrate V-Day at Hammerstein Ballroom, where the very first V-Day benefit took place 15 years before. MTV and Amnesty International rose together in Times Square.

All around the world youth rose. Students created art, staged their own risings, and wrote poetry heralding in the new wave of anti-violence activism. Schoolchildren staged flash mobs to the One Billion Rising anthem “Break the Chain” in classrooms and schoolyards, working with teachers, school administrators and their communities.

CAPTURING ONE BILLION RISING IN PHOTOGRAPHY

Thousands of photos are being submitted via V-Day’s Facebook and Twitter.  Visit www.onebillionrising.org/photos for images.

GLOBAL THANK YOU MESSAGE

V-Day issued the following statement to activists worldwide to acknowledge the efforts of those who made ONE BILLION RISING a success, and to keep momentum going in the weeks and months ahead:

The Biggest Mass Global Action To End Violence Against Women & Girls In The History Of Humankind

One Billion Rising is the beginning of the new world ignited by a new energy. It is not the end of a struggle but the escalation of it. NOW is the time to enact change. This is NOT an annual holiday, we are not waiting until 14 February 2014. NOW is the time to harness the power of your activism to change the world!

We celebrate these victories, and we hope you do too. Now ask yourself WHAT CAN I DO IMMEDIATELY TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS – and then go out and DO IT!

One Billion Rising was always conceived to be a catalyst and a wind rather than a new organization. So use it to fuel your next activities. Plan local actions for International Women’s Day, 8 March. Stay tuned for tips and actions!!

If you want to know where to direct your energies right now, you can stage a V-Day benefit in your community – visit vday.org/our-work/college-community-campaigns today!

The effects of One Billion Rising on the global issue of violence against women and girls are only beginning to be realized. Already, the campaign has:

1. Brought together people across movements and causes – mobilizing communities such as migrants, women in prison, domestic workers, urban poor, LGBTQI, farm workers, the disabled, and many more.
2. Created the opportunity for councils of indigenous women to participate in global problem solving.
3. Created global solidarity and strength cutting across borders, races, class, religions, sexual orientation, ages, genders. Reignited solidarity between women’s organizations in various countries. Rekindled the ethos of sisterhood amongst women on a global scale.
4. Brought to the surface the intersection of issues both causing and affecting violence against women: patriarchy, poverty, corporate greed, environmental plunder, imperialist policies, religion, militarization, interventions of outside countries, immigration, labor export policies, nationalization of industries, political repression.
5. Engaged masses on a deeper, more embodied level through dancing, poetry, singing, and art.
6. Produced massive media exposure, discourse, and advocacy on violence against women issues. It also created or was the catalyst for the development of millions of women citizen social media journalists telling their own narratives by picking up cameras.
7. Created solidarity and safe and free space, through our creativity and numbers, for violated women to tell their stories, many for the first time, and heal their trauma by dancing in public, communal open spaces.
8. Inspired millions of men to stand and rise as our allies, deconstructing patriarchy alongside us.
9. Galvanized and empowered legislators to generate legislation in support of ending violence against women and girls globally.  Created an opportunity for globally linked women’s councils to lobby at all levels of government and UN.
10. Increased funding and support for programs and education to end violence and women and girls. 
11. Made violence against women impossible to ignore and never to be marginalized again. Reminded the world that women united will never be defeated.
12. Generated the best collection of worldwide dance videos ever! 

KEY LINKS

One Billion Rising news and press releases: www.onebillionrising.org/
Archive of One Billion Rising live-streamed events: www.onebillionrising.org/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/OneBillionRising
Twitter: twitter.com/VDay
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/vdayorg

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About One Billion Rising

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.  The campaign continues, visit www.onebillionrising.org.

About V-Day

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. In 2012, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events organized by volunteer activists in the U.S. took place around the world educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 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. Over 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements including Worth Magazine’s 100 Best Charities, Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities, one of the Top-Rated organizations on Charity Navigator and Guidestar. vday.org

V-Day’s One Billion Rising; 14 February 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Sriya Karumanchi / Group SJR
media@vday.org; 917.267.2931 (o), 248.756.4795 (c)

Susan Celia Swan / V-Day
susan@vday.org; 917.865.6603 (c)

V-DAY’s ONE BILLION RISING: 14 FEBRUARY 2013

Largest Day of Mass Action Ever to Stop Violence Against Women and Girls With “Risings” Planned in 203 Countries

Activists, Writers, Thinkers, Workers, Students, Poets, Dancers,
Parliamentarians, Mayors, State Representatives, Celebrities,
Women and Men Will RISE on 14 February 2013

 United Nations to Observe One Billion Rising at UN Headquarters in New York City

(13 February 2013) – V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls, announces the final escalation of its year-long ONE BILLION RISING campaign. On Thursday, 14 February, women and men in 203 countries will come together in the largest day of mass action ever to stop violence against women and girls, to express their outrage, and to strike, dance and RISE to support an end to violence against women once and for all.

“February 14, 2013 will change the world not because it is a day of magic, although there are indeed mystical elements surrounding this campaign. It will change the world because the preparation for it and organizing for it has already created an energetic wind or wave igniting existing efforts to end violence against women and create new ones,” said V-Day Founder and award winning playwright Eve Ensler. “It has brought together coalitions of groups and individuals that have never worked together before; brought in all kinds of new people and groups and associations and masses of men who are not aware of the issue but are now working on it; brought violence against women, through our numbers and efforts to the center of the discussion. On February 14, we are rising together because it is in our connectedness, in our stomping feet and uncontrollable hips that the path and energy will be created to bring in a new world. We will galvanize the will and the passion of everyone rising around the world to create change.”

The campaign is leveraging the strength of V-Day’s 15-year activist network in colleges and communities worldwide and utilizing the power of social media to catalyze action on a global scale. Through a series of videos, including the One Billion Rising short film (http://vday.org/shortfilm) which has already surpassed 600,000 views on YouTube, a music video called “Break The Chain,” the accompanying how-to dance videos by renowned choreographer Debbie Allen, and hugely successful video series “I Am Rising ” – in which activists and celebrities shared their reason for rising – V-Day has invited a global audience to rise together against violence and show the world what one billion looks like.

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 will come 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.  

RISING IN THE MEDIA

In the lead-up to 14 February, V-Day Board members and high profile supporters are appearing on major national and international television programs to promote the campaign. Anne Hathaway will be on “The Tonight Show”(Feb 13), Jane Fonda on “Piers Morgan” (Feb 13), Rosario Dawson on “Lawrence O’Donnell” (Feb 13) and TODAY (Feb 14), Thandie Newton on CNN International (Feb 14). Laura Flanders appeared this past weekend on “Up with Chris Hayes” (Feb 9) and “Melissa Harris Perry” (Feb 10), Katie Couric will feature One Billion Rising on “Katie” (Feb 14), and invite her audience members to rise. Over the past two weeks, V-Day Founder and award winning playwright Eve Ensler has appeared in international print, TV, and broadcast media worldwide.

Throughout the 48 hour cycle of 14 February across the globe, Rising events around the world including, Bukavu (DRC); Karachi (India); Banjul (Gambia); New Delhi (India); Belgrade (Serbia); Johannesburg (South Africa); New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Hawaii (USA) will be live streamed on the campaign website http://www.onebillionrising.org.

On 14 February, Eve Ensler will be in Democratic Republic of Congo rising with women and men from the City of Joy, a revolutionary center in Bukavu for survivors of gender violence, and the surrounding community.  Ensler will speak live on the BBC World Service to share her experiences.  The Guardian will live blog events in the UK; and national press outlets around the globe will cover risings.

THE PLEDGE

One Billion Rising is the beginning of the new world ignited by a new energy. It is not the end of a struggle but the escalation of it, so V-Day is asking those who are rising around the globe to take a simple pledge this Thursday, to do one thing in the next year to end violence against women.  It can be a simple action, or a monumental one; it can be personal, or political; it can quiet or loud, but these actions – taken together – will create change.

THE APP

The new V-Day One Billion Rising app, available for iPhone and Android, allows organizers to get involved by finding an event, sharing photos, and posting messages for each other. Stay connected by watching the latest V-Day videos, browsing the photo gallery, and listening to music inspired by the One Billion Rising campaign. Find the app by searching for “VDAY” in the iTunes or Google Play store.

WHY DANCING?

“Dancing insists we take up space, and though it has no set direction, we go there together. Dance is dangerous, joyous, sexual, holy, disruptive, and contagious and it breaks the rules. It can happen anywhere, at anytime, with anyone and everyone, and it’s free. Dance joins us and pushes us to go further and that is why it’s at the center of ONE BILLION RISING,” — Eve Ensler, V-Day Founder and Artistic Director.

ARTICLE SERIES

Eve Ensler and V-Day have curated a series of One Billion Rising-themed articles with the goal of broadening our vision and understanding of violence against women. Ensler’s vision is for these illuminating pieces to stimulate discourse, thinking and action.

Vandana Shiva kicked off the series with a piece on economic injustice and disparities and violence against women; Adam Hochschild outlined how colonialism impacts violence against women; Carole Bebelle addressed women, race and New Orleans; Derrick Jensen tackled the cult of masculinity and violence against women; Dr. Christiane Northrup discussed how a woman’s biography including a history of violence becomes her biology and impacts her health; Sally Fisher addressed the intersections between HIV/AIDS and violence against women; N. Jerin Arifa addressed how Islamaphobia encourages violence against women; and Matt Petersen wrote about how our consumer goods are leading to violence against women and the earth.

#1BillionRising: STRIKING, DANCING, RISING, TRENDING!

The campaign is active across a multitude of social channels including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google+, and Thunderclap.  Activists are using the #1BillionRising hashtag widely and will be posting photos, videos, songs and stories from their events to spread the campaign and message of One Billion Rising far and wide.  Thousands of organizers will capture their events on video for a documentary film being produced on the campaign.

REACH ACROSS MULTI-SECTORS

Regional coordinators have been working around the clock, building grassroots coalitions to make 14 February a monumental day of global action. In places as far ranging as India and South Africa, people and groups who have never worked together – artists and ministers, bishops and sex workers, Zumba dancers and city council members – are converging around a common goal – to eradicate violence against women and girls from the planet.  From Iran to Fiji, the reach of the campaign is already upwards of hundreds of millions of individuals. 

The campaign, which has been escalating throughout the year, is at a tipping point with activists in 203 countries signed on to take action and over 13,000 organizations around the globe participating, including Amnesty International USA, International Rescue Committee, NOW, Human Rights Campaign, AFL-CIO, MTV, European Women’s Lobby, WAVE (Women Against Violence Europe) Network, Verein Autonome Österreichische Frauenhäuser, Centro de Informacion y Desarrollo de la Mujer (CIDEM), Isis Internacional, Asmita Resource Center for Women, and MTV.

HIGH PROFILE SUPPORT

Actors and V-Day board members Jane Fonda, Rosario Dawson, Donna Karan, Thandie Newton, Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington along with Jessica Alba, BETTY, Connie Britton, Kate Clinton, Glenn Close, Jason Day, Francesca Eastwood, Frances Fisher, Jarvis Green, Anne Hathaway, Bianca Jagger, Jennifer Lawrence, Dylan McDermott, Kathy Najimy, Yoko Ono, Robert Redford, KaDee Strickland, Marisa Tomei, Mario Testino, Lily Tomlin, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Zoe Kravitz and more, are activating their networks.

Governments, politicians, and renowned figures from around the world including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, First Lady of Nepal, the Mayor of Lima, the Prime Minister of Australia and the President of Croatia, the Los Angeles City Council, British MP Stella Creasy, Vice President of the European Parliament, Isabelle Durant (Belgium), Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and many others, have joined the campaign. The Office of the General Secretary of the United Nations, in unison with its “UNiTE to End Violence Against Women Campaign,” will observe One Billion Rising at UN Headquarters in New York City on 14 February by encouraging staff to join forces and stand up to end violence against women.

Union groups around the world are demanding an end to the violence and rising against economic injustices against women. Unite the Union in the UK, AFL-CIO and National Nurses United in the U.S., Kilusang Mayo Uno in the Philippines, and many more unions across the globe are bringing the labor movement into the Rising. Migrant farmworkers groups across the U.S. have joined the campaign. Groups such as Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Farmworker Justice, Centro de Derechos para Migrantes, Campesinos Sin Fronteras, and many more are planning events that will be meaningful and important not just for the women involved, but also for other labor women around the world.

EXAMPLES OF RISING

In Paris, the Women’s Coalition of the French Parliament is rising. The Minister of Women’s rights and hundreds of groups in India, students, teachers, and thousands of people are speaking out, and new laws and prevention education are being introduced.  Over 100 events are taking place in Italy.  In Germany, more than 100 events are planned around the country including a flash mob at the Brandenburg Gate. In Bosnia, a network of organizations and individuals in Sarajevo plan a dancing parade along the riverside, public squares and busy places.  From the north of Europe to the south, thousands of activists have planned events large and small. In Bangladesh, over 25 million are expected to rise and will form human dancing chains across the country.  The One Billion Rising anthem “Break the Chain” has been translated into Spanish, Farsi, Hindu, and many more languages.  In Cape Town, Soweto, and Johannesburg, teen girls are touring schools and teaching the flash mob dance, and all over Africa local TV stations are showing the “Break the Chain” video leading up to the rising.

There are thousands of events planned across the U.S., some highlights include:

RISE NYC, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, where Eve Ensler performed The Vagina Monologues and launched the global movement on Valentine’s Day 15 years ago. The event will feature a live performance of “Break The Chain” written by award winning composer Tena Clark and performed by the original cast of V-Girl singers, also appearances by V-Day Board members Rosario Dawson and Donna Karan, as well as performances by Glenn Close, Maya Azucena, BETTY, Suheir Hammad, Morley, DJ Beverly Bond, Hesta Prynn, DJ Spinna, and more. For more info and tickets: www.onebillionrising.org/risenyc.  Free but RSVP is required.

One Billion Rising at San Francisco City Hall with Mayor Edwin M. Lee, District Attorney George Gascon, and city and women’s leaders on the steps of City Hall. The event will feature flash mobs of “Break the Chain”, DJ’s spinning, Dholrhythms Dance Company, SF School of the Arts Taiko drumming, Hip-Hop artist Lil Swag & Friends, Acid Fierce and Janice Mirikitani. For information: http://www.onebillionrisingsf.org

One Billion Rising Los Angeles, RISE with V-Day and Zumba Fitness in downtown Los Angeles at LA Lives’ Nokia Plaza. An electrifying dance-fitness party that will get Los Angeles rising and dancing with special guests including V-Day Board Member, activist, and Academy Award winner Jane Fonda, V-Day Board Member Carole Black, celebrity Zumba® Instructor Gina Grant, Frances Fisher, Francesca Eastwood, KaDee Strickland, and Dylan McDermott. The free event will feature a live Zumba Fitness party and video footage from events around the world and special guests. For information and to RSVP:  www.vday.org/zumba

Washington, D.C. will strike, dance and rise with One Billion Rising to demand an end to violence against women and support the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). There will be a dance party at Farragut Park at 12:00 pm with special guests including President of NOW Terry O’Neill, Chair of the National Council of Women’s Organizations Susan Scanlan, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and live performances by female a cappella group SongRise and 11-year old DJ sensation Beauty and the Beatz. For more information and to RSVP: http://onebillionrising.org/page/event/detail/startarising/jwg

India: There are thousands of events planned in India including the following.  20,000 women and men in Ahmedabad will hold a public dance. In Jaipur, six NGOs have planned events as well as 35 school principals and teachers from seven schools.  Hundreds of activists in Chennai will make Kolams (mandalas made with colors on the floor) outside their homes. For One Billion Rising, Kolams will be made all over Tamil Nadu to celebrate love and justice and equality.  In Gurjeet Kaur activists will turn hundreds of odhanies (scarves) into “Flags Of Freedom.”

Philippines: There are hundreds of events planned in the Philippines. In addition to events planned on all 7000 islands of the Philippines, the mayor’s office in Quezon City will close 15 blocks for a 24 hour long dance concert and rally featuring Philippine singers, indie bands, folk groups, dance groups, film theatre and TV actresses, writers, activists, and students led by the Comfort Women Lolas to gather for a major event at one of Manila’s most famous landmarks.

Peru: The Mayor of Lima, Susana Villaran, has officially made 14 February One Billion Rising Day. The district of San Borja will hold a One Billion Rising flash mob. Female prisoners in Santa Monica, the women’s prison in Lima, are learning the Break the Chains choreography and will hold their own event on 14 February.  Amnesty International Peru, Procter & Gamble Peru, and UNICEF Peru are just a few of the organizations and corporations in Peru demanding an end to violence against women with One Billion Rising. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Vulnerable Populations is rising and will set a stage on the Main Square producing a big event in a combined effort with the Municipality of Lima

South Africa: Grassroots groups, NGOs and a population enraged by the recent story of Anene Booysen, the 17-year-old teenager who was brutally gang raped, mutilated and left to die in a Western Cape settlement, have joined together to produce various events around South Africa. In Cape Town there will be a dawn ceremony on Table Mountain, including a “Break the Chain” dance.  In Johannesburg activists from Soweto and students will gather on the rooftop overlooking the iconic Nelson Mandela Bridge to dance, strike and rise. From there, the group will walk to the main campaign event, to be held at Constitutional Hill where poets, actors and activists will dance and RISE.  In Soweto, teen girls will lead a flash mob for thousands on the famed Vilakazi Street.

United Kingdom: There will be over 200 events including dance parties, rallies, flash mobs and art festivals from Bristol to London to Norwich and more.  There will be a dance rally on the steps of Parliament, and an event at City Hall.  A red London double decker bus will bring people around London to attend various events during the day.

Australia & New Zealand: Over 100 events are planned over the two countries, with Maori women in Auckland Rising and Aboriginal women in Sydney leading a healing ceremony and flash mob in a sports stadium.

HOW YOU CAN RISE

ATTEND an event in your community on February 14.  Go to onebillionrising.org to find the event near you.

READ & DOWNLOAD Eve Ensler’s Newest Monologue “Rising.” Composed during her recent travels in India, amidst the incredible uprising there, this monologue as a beautiful addition to your event to motivate the participants to dance: http://onebillionrising.org/blog/entry/read-eve-enslers-newest-monologue-rising

WEAR Red & Black. We’re encouraging all RISERS to wear red and black on February 14 in solidarity with our fellow ONE BILLION RISING activists throughout the world, and those women and girls who could not be here to STRIKE, DANCE, and RISE with us.

FIND a ONE BILLION RISING event near you: http://www.onebillionrising.org/page/event/search_simple

2/14 | 2:14 A Moment of Solidarity:  At 2:14pm (14:14) in your time zone take a moment, join together with your colleagues, fellow students, family members, and friends, stop everything and leave your workplaces, schools, and homes to be together as one.  With the earth beneath you raise your hand in the air if you can for one minute. Stop everything, look around, and know you are a part of a worldwide movement of millions of people all standing together in solidarity to end violence against women and girls.

# # #

About V-Day

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. In 2012, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events organized by volunteer activists in the U.S. took place around the world educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 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. Over 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements including Worth Magazine’s 100 Best Charities, Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities, one of the Top-Rated organizations on Guidestar and Great Nonprofits. vday.org

One Billion Rising Campaign Arrives in the UK

JOIN V-DAY’S 15^TH ANNIVERSARY: DANCE, RISE AND DEMAND AN END TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

V-Day Founder Eve Ensler to be special guest at London Rising event on Monday 4^TH February

“When we come together on February 14, 2013 to demand an end to violence against women and girls, and it will be a truly global voice that will rise up for this year’s One Billion Rising campaign.  Activists throughout the United Kingdom are rising. One Billion Rising coordinators Monique Wilson and Rossana Abueva are rallying women and men in every sector of society and curator and producer of the One Billion Rising UK Arts Festival Nadja Romain has gathered an array of stunning and brilliant visual artists. It’s also of real excitement that MP Stella Creasy is channeling the political arena for real change.”  – Eve Ensler, V-Day founder and Playwright

Women and men across the UK will join activists and communities around the globe for ONE BILLION RISING on 14^th February 2013, the 15^th anniversary and largest day of action in the history of V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.

V-Day, founded by Eve Ensler, Tony Award winning author of “The Vagina Monologues,” launched ONE BILLION RISING in early 2012. The campaign is a global grassroots movement that, from Lima, to Paris, New Delhi to Kinshasa, Manila, to Bahrain is clamouring, loud and clear, for the end of violence towards women and girls. On February 14th, 2013, One Billion women, and those who love them, will rise up on the planet, joining activists, celebrities, writers, thinkers, and artists, to strike, dance, shake the world and shift the energy to empower women and girls and break the cycle of violence.

ONE BILLION RISING UK Coordinator Monique Wilson stated, “We are thrilled to announce over 80 One Billion Rising UK events (and growing!) OBR workshops have given voice to the needs of women and girls in communities around the UK; artistic events in the visual arts, film, poetry, theatre and dance are using the arts as a platform for change and transformation; big dance concerts are bringing together artists and musicians and dancers and annual performances of “The Vagina Monologues” and countless flash mobs are happening in universities, schools, theatres, high streets, town halls and squares all across the country. The UK has always been known for the diversity of the cultures and it is this which makes the UK a fantastic representative for the global campaign. The United Kingdom – from London, Brighton, Sheffield, Lancaster, Liverpool, Cardiff, The Scottish Borders, Bute, Norwich and many others – are coming together on February 14th and RISING to demand an end to violence against women and girls.”

London highlights include:

ONE BILLION RISING UK Art Festival  – With art being one of the most powerful forms of communication and vehicles of protest, the inaugural  festival, spearheaded by curator and producer and founder of Everything I Want ltd,  Nadja Romain will invite artists, poets, playwrights, dancers, performers, art lovers and the public to come together in unity against violence.  An impressive programme of exhibitions, performances, talks and screenings will take place across the UK beginning January 22^nd through February 14^th in various venues, museums and galleries, challenging us to new ways of thinking and motivating us to change. Artists involved include Judy Chicago, Rose Gibbs, Hannah McClure, Mimmo Miccolis and many more.  For information on all festival events please visit http://www.obrartfest.co.uk

LONDON RISING – Eve Ensler will be arriving in London on Monday 4th February to join the UK’s risings against violence and will be hosting LONDON RISING, a one night fundraising theatrical dance party with music, dance, songs and film that celebrates women at Café de Paris. Produced by New Voice Company and ONE BILLION RISING Campaign Directors Monique Wilson and Rossana Abueva the evening will feature Eve Ensler performing her newest piece “Rising,” written in Kerala for the women in India who lead the way.  V-Day board member and acclaimed film actress Thandie Newton will perform a special piece called “Over It,” written by Ensler to launch the ONE BILLION RISING Campaign.

The show will also feature Grammy nominated and internationally acclaimed Sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar, Zambian Scottish songstress Namvula Rennie, cabaret vocalist Karin Bello and singer Enno-Williams Uffort and the Milestones Motown band. Tickets from £25 can be purchased http://onebillionrising.org/page/event/detail/startarising/w5g

MPS CALL FOR STATUTORY SEX AND RELATIONSHIP EDUCATION – ONE BILLION RISING campaign hit the UK parliament on 15^th January as a group of cross-party MPs made an impassioned plea to for parliamentary time to be given to a debate and vote on providing sexual and relationship education in all schools, as part of challenging the growing evidence of the violence and harassment of young girls in Britain. Labour MP and shadow Minister for Crime Prevention Stella Creasy is helping to organise the ONE BILLION RISING campaign in the UK.

Governments and politicians around globe join Creasy and her colleagues in their support of One Billion Rising including the First Lady of Nepal, the Mayor of Lima, the Los Angeles City Council, the City of Sante Fe, Vice President of the European Parliament,  San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, and many others.

Thousands of activists and over 13,000 organizations around the globe have already signed on and ONE BILLION RISING events are being planned in over 187 countries. Organizations such as Amnesty International USA, BCBGMAXAZRIA, European Women’s Lobby, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, MTV, NOW, Sonke Gender Justice Network, and AFL-CIO are coming together. Among V-Day’s board members are Rosario Dawson, Thandie Newton, Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington who along with Yoko Ono, Jessica Alba, Anne Hathaway, Donna Karan, Jennifer Lawrence, Dylan McDermott, Robert Redford, Lily Tomlin, Rosie Huntington – Whitely, Zoe Kravitz, and many more support the campaign to end violence against women.  But we still need you to rise!

Many events are taking place across the UK as part of the campaign.  Find your local event on V-Day’s global campaign website www.onebillionrising.org

ENDS

For more press information on all One Billion Rising UK events, One Billion Rising Arts Festival and interview requests with Eve Ensler please contact Julia or Charlotte at Purple: julia@purplepr.com 0207 434 7082 | charlotte@purplepr.com 0207 434 7069

Notes to Editors:

About One Billion Rising

One in three women on the planet is raped or beaten in her lifetime, according to the UN. That is ONE BILLION WOMEN violated. One billion daughters, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, lovers and friends. On 14th February 2013, V-Day’s 15th Anniversary, we are inviting ONE BILLION women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to this violence. ONE BILLION RISING will move the earth, activating women and men to dance across every country. V-Day wants the world to see our collective strength, our numbers and our solidarity across borders. Join V-Day and ONE BILLION RISING today and SAY NO to violence against women and girls. To sign up and learn more, visit www.onebillionrising.org

About V-Day:

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. In 2012, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events organized by volunteer activists in the U.S. took place around the world educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over US $90 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. Over 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements including Worth Magazine’s 100 Best Charities, Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities, one of the Top-Rated organizations on Philanthropedia/Guidestar and Great Nonprofits. www.vday.org

V-Day Founder Eve Ensler to Tour India and Bangladesh in Lead Up to One Billion Rising

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Jen Hirsch
jennyfhirsch (at) gmail.com; 617.461.0522
Susan Swan / V-Day
susan (at) vday.org; 917.865.6603

NEW YORK (January 3, 2013) – Eve Ensler, activist, award-winning playwright and founder of V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls, announces the continuation of her tour to raise awareness about V-Day’s ONE BILLION RISING campaign(http://www.onebillionrising.org). Following stops last year in Australia, the United States, United Kingdom, France, Croatia, Serbia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, and the Philippines, Ensler will visit Trivandrum, Mumbai, and Delhi, India, and Dhaka, Bangladesh this month.

V-Day’s ONE BILLION RISING campaign, launched in early 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 February 14, V-Day’s 15th anniversary, activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities and women and men across the world will come 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.

The campaign is V-Day’s most ambitious to date, with activists in 182 countries signed on to take action, and over 13,000 organizations around the globe participating, including Sangat, MTV, Amnesty International USA, International Rescue Committee, NOW, Human Rights Campaign, AFL-CIO, European Women’s Lobby, WAVE (Women Against Violence Europe) Network, Verein Autonome Österreichische Frauenhäuser, Centro de Informacion y Desarrollo de la Mujer (CIDEM), Isis Internacional, Asmita Resource Center for Women, and Vaginas Campansinas.

ONE BILLION RISING is also gaining momentum on social media – the hashtag #1billionrising has become widely used and just this past week #MenRise was created by activists in connection with the campaign as men across the world participate and join One Billion Rising.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has come out in support of the campaign and actors and V-Day board members Jane Fonda, Rosario Dawson, Donna Karan, Thandie Newton, Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington along with Farhan Akhtar, Javed Akhtar, Jessica Alba, Habana Azmi, Kamla Bhasin, Rahul Bose, Connie Britton, Kate Clinton, Nandita Das, Longiuns Ernandez, Anne Hathaway, Rosie Huntington–Whitely, Kaizaad Kotwal, Zoe Kravitz, Jennifer Lawrence, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, Dylan McDermott, Yoko Ono, Robert Redford, Mallika Sarabhai, Aparna Sen, Dr. Nandita Shah, Elizabeth Sombart, Sakshi Tanwar, Dolly Thakore, Lily Tomlin, Usha Uthup, and others, are activating their networks to spread the word.

Ensler continues her multi-continent tour this week in the lead up to ONE BILLION RISING with stops in India and Bangladesh. Following the horrific gang rape of a23-year-old woman on a Delhi bus and her subsequent death from injuries incurred by the brutal attack, Ensler will meet with women’s and activist groups to discuss planned demonstrations and will speak, along with other notable Indian figures, about ending the culture of rape and violence.

Kamla Bhasin, co-founder of Sangat, a South Asian feminist network, and One Billion Rising South Asia coordinator, stated, “One Billion Rising is a feminist tsunami; we are seeing a renewed energy for change throughout India and South Asia. We must work in each family to practice equality, democracy, and full dignity of women and girls. I think of saving our men and boys from becoming violent, aggressive, selfish, and macho. Once we are allbetter, loving, all our institutions will be better. The protests in India this time have created some hope. Violence against women is no more an issue for the women’s movement, many others are now owning it.”

Indian philosopher, activist, and author Vandana Shiva wrote a column for the One Billion Rising article series which launches today on Huffington Post . In it she writes, “The victim of the Delhi gang rape has triggered a social revolution. We must sustain it, deepen it, and expand it. We must demand and get speedy and effective justice for women. And while we do all this we need to change the ruling paradigm which is imposed on us in the name of‘growth,’ and which is fueling increasing crimes against women. Ending violence against women includes moving beyond the violent economy shaped by capitalist patriarchy to non-violent peaceful, economies which give respect to women and the Earth.”

Ensler will attend the following events in India and Bangladesh. Events have been coordinated by Sangat and One Billion Rising activists in all four cities. Longtime V-Day activists Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal and Kaizaad Kotwal of Poor-Box Productions are coordinating events in Mumbai and Delhi:

• January 2, Trivandrum: Press conference with leaders of Kerala women’s organizations at the Trivandrum Press Club
• January 2, Trivandrum: Round table discussion on the response of men to women’s participation in public life and their role in ending violence against women at the Trivandrum YWCA
• January 3, Trivandrum: Public meeting and Q & A with cultural and social leaders on ending violence against women and girls in Malayalam
• January 3, Trivandrum: March to rally in Gandhi park with performances by local artist, activist, and youth groups
• January 4, Mumbai: Press conference with Sakshi Tanwar, Nandita Das, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, Kaizaad Kotwal, Dolly Thakore, and Dr. Nandita Shah at Jai Hind College Auditorium, followed by meetings with women’s and youth organizations
• January 5, Mumbai: Rally to raise awareness about safety and violence in public places with guest speakers Rahul Bose, Longiuns Ernandez, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, and Kaizaad Kotwal at Jai Hind College Auditorium
• January 6, Mumbai: NGO Summit with over 60 NGOs to discuss violence in the home including domestic violence and the issue of sex selection at Lokmanya Tilak Hospital
• January 6, Mumbai: Benefit performance of The Vagina Monologues with special Bollywood guest stars including Chitrangda Singh, Suchitra Pillai, Manasi Scott, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, Dilnaz Irani, Rasika Duggal, Varshaa Agnihotri, and Dolly Thakore at the Palladium Mall
• January 6, Mumbai: Gala dinner to honor Ensler and others and celebrate 10 years of The Vagina Monologues in India with performances by Usha Utup, Poorna Jagannathan, Suchitra Pillai, Manasi Scott, and Sarosh Nanavaty.
• January 7, Delhi: Press conference with activist and feminist leader Kamla Bhasin at the Delhi Press Club
• January 7, Delhi: ONE BILLION RISING event andpremier performance of “Broken Wings of Women” by Mallika Sarabhai and Elizabeth Sombart at the FICCI Auditorium
• January 8, Delhi: Activist meetings to discuss ONE BILLION RISING at Delhi University
• January 8, Delhi: Special performance of The Vagina Monologues at The Blue Frog Terrace
• January 8, Delhi: Activist meetings to discuss ONE BILLION RISING at Delhi University
• January 9-11, Dhaka: Programs and schedule to be announced

In February, Eve will visit Paris, London, and Bukavu. For more information, visit http://www.onebillionrising.org.

# # #

About V-Day
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. In 2012, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events organized byvolunteer activists in the U.S. took place around the world educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 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. Over 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements including Worth Magazine’s 100 Best Charities, Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities, one of the Top-Rated organizations on Philanthropedia/Guidestar and Great Nonprofits. www.vday.org

V-Day Responds to Sandy Hook Elementary Tragedy

V-Day sends our love to the parents, family, and friends, and all who were
killed or hurt in today’s shooting. Our deepest sympathies to the Sandy
Hook Elementary and Newtown, CT community. Our deepest desire is that the
violence ends and we will continue our work until the violence stops.

His Holiness The Dalai Lama Pledges Support for One Billion Rising Campaign to End Violence Against Women and Girls

HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR ONE BILLION RISING CAMPAIGN TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

V-Day Campaign Escalates, Draws Support of Thinkers, Writers, Activists, and Celebrities, as Global Day of Action Draws Near

December 13, 2012 – Today V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls, announced that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has publicly expressed his support of V-Day’s ONE BILLION RISING campaign.

The ONE BILLION RISING campaign 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 February 14, 2013, V-Day’s 15th anniversary, activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities and women and men across the world will come 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.

On December 8, 2012 His Holiness sent a personally signed note to campaign organizers saying:

I am happy to give my support to the One Billion Rising global campaign against violence against women and girls.

We need to use our common sense, and encourage others to use theirs, to understand what violence towards women and girls entails. There are no circumstances under which such violence can be justified; no benefit can even be achieved by violence. The only certainty is that where there is violence, always and inevitably there is suffering. Understanding that the nature of violence is suffering, leads to a clear understanding its harmfulness and futility.

When an unjust situation demands a strong response, compassion demands not that we accept injustice, but that we stake a stand against it. It does imply that such a stand should be non-violent. However, non-violence is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of self-confidence and courage.

If, on 14^th February 2013, one billion people can celebrate and demonstrate against violence against women and girls, while maintaining a calm non-violence attitude themselves, in that indication of strength they will reveal the confidence that comes from having truth and justice on your side.

The Dalai’s Lama’s support is an important milestone in V-Day’s fastest escalating campaign to date. The global movement has gained unprecedented support from hundreds of thousands around the world in the lead up to February 14, 2013. To date:

• Activists in 177 countries have signed on to take action.

• Over 13,000 diverse organizations around the globe are involved, including Amnesty International USA, International Rescue Committee, NOW, Human Rights Campaign, and major unions including the AFL-CIO.

• Actors and V-Day board members Jane Fonda, Rosario Dawson, Donna Karan, Thandie Newton, Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington along with Yoko Ono, Jessica Alba, Connie Britton, Kate Clinton, Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lawrence, Dylan McDermott, Robert Redford, Lily Tomlin, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Zoe Kravitz supporting the mission by recording PSAs and activating their networks.

• Governments and politicians around globe including the First Lady of Nepal, the Mayor of Lima, the Los Angeles City Council, British MP Stella Creasy, and many others are joining the campaign.

• Writers and thinkers including Alice Walker, Adam Hochschild, Naomi Klein, Dr. Denis Mukwege, and Christiane Northrup are raising their voices for ONE BILLION RISING.

Press Contacts: Jen Hirsch: jhirsch@groupsjr.com; 646.495.9723 and Susan Celia Swan:

susan@vday.org; 917.865.6603

# # #

About V-Day

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. In 2012, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events organized by volunteer activists in the U.S. took place around the world educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 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. Over 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements including Worth Magazine’s 100 Best Charities, Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities, one of the Top-Rated organizations on Philanthropedia/Guidestar and Great Nonprofits. www.vday.org

V-Day’s One Billion Rising Campaign Unveils New Song and Music Video: “Break the Chain”

Contact:
Jen Hirsch / Group SJR
jhirsch@groupsjr.com; 646.495.9723
Susan Celia Swan / V-Day
susan@vday.org; 917.865.6603 

V-DAY’S ONE BILLION RISING CAMPAIGN UNVEILS NEW SONG AND MUSIC VIDEO:
“BREAK THE CHAIN”

Written by Renowned Producer Tena Clark, Featuring Dancer and Choreographer Debbie Allen, and Directed by Tony Stroebel, New Video to Spread Awareness of Global Campaign

ONE BILLION RISING Campaign Escalates with 176 Countries and Over 13,000 Organizations Signed on to Support Global Day of Action to End Violence Against Women and Girls

NEW YORK – (November 19, 2012) – Today, V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls, unveiled an exclusive new song and music video to support its ONE BILLION RISING campaign.  “Break the Chain,” written and produced by Tena Clark with music by Tena Clark and Tim Heintz, debuted world-wide today: http://ow.ly/fo9fH  

Directed and shot by South African filmmaker Tony Stroebel in New York City, “Break the Chain” spotlights a cast of V-Girl dancers and activists from around the City, led by acclaimed dancer and choreographer Debbie Allen (“So You Think You Can Dance,” “Fame”).  The song features moving vocals by Liz Byrne, Shelea Frazier, Ashley Juedy, Dana Kluczyk, Jenny Mollett, Jenna Brooke Scannelli, Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa, Naomi Walley, and Caitlin Witty. 

“Break the Chain,” aims to raise awareness around the world about V-Day’s fastest escalating global campaign to date, ONE BILLION RISING.  V-Day will create a “how to” video, featuring choreographer Debbie Allen, and accompanying curriculum outlining the steps and lyrics, so that activists around the world can hold their own flash mobs using “Break the Chain” on February 14, 2013.

The ONE BILLION RISING campaign 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 February 14, 2013, V-Day’s 15th anniversary, activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities and women and men across the world will come 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.  

“Dancing insists we take up space, and though it has no set direction, we go there together. Dance is dangerous, joyous, sexual, holy, disruptive, and contagious and it breaks the rules. It can happen anywhere, at anytime, with anyone and everyone, and it’s free. Dance joins us and pushes us to go further and that is why it’s at the center of ONE BILLION RISING,” said Eve Ensler, V-Day Founder and Artistic Director. “With beautiful music and infectious lyrics from Tena Clark, amazing vocals by a talented group of V-Girls, and Debbie Allen’s bold choreography, Break The Chain is sure to inspire women and men worldwide to rise.”

The campaign is growing every day in the lead up to February 14, 2013, with women and men around the world signing on. To date, thousands of activists, over 13,000 organizations around the globe, and 176 countries have committed to participate and hold events.  From the International Rescue Committee, to NOW to the AFL-CIO, to OXFAM Australia, to Sangat South Asia and Lila Pilipina, to Amnesty International USA, thousands of organizations are spreading the word amongst their millions of members in an effort to make the campaign the largest volunteer mass action ever.

V-Day’s short campaign film ONE BILLION RISING, shot and edited by South African filmmaker Tony Stroebel, has been viewed and shared over 170,000 times since launching this fall. Celebrities including Jessica Alba, Connie Britton, Anne Hathaway, Donna Karan, Jennifer Lawrence, Dylan McDermott, Riley Keough, Thandie Newton, Yoko Ono, Laura Pausini, Robert Redford, Charlize Theron, Lily Tomlin, Kerry Washington, Ruby Wax, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Monique Wilson, and Zoe Kravitz, are all actively working to raise awareness about the campaign and recording PSAs to inspire others to sign on.

Today Ensler kicks-off a multi-city tour with stops in Mexico City, Lima, and Guatemala City to meet with officials and activists. Governments and politicians around the world are already supporting ONE BILLION RISING. From the First Lady of Nepal to the Mayor of Lima, from the Los Angeles City Council to British MP Stella Creasy, from officials in Santa Fe to France, around the world leaders are joining the campaign.

Regional coordinators are working around the clock, building grassroots coalitions. From Iran to Fiji, from Hong Kong to Guatemala, the reach of the campaign is already upwards of hundreds of millions of individuals. Renowned writers and thinkers including Alice Walker, Adam Hochschild, Naomi Klein, Dr. Denis Mukwege, and Christiane Northrup are supporting the effort. Every day the campaign grows, and more women and men are committing to rise together on February 14, 2013.

Individuals and organizations can get involved with ONE BILLION RISING by:

• Visiting www.onebillionrising.org to sign up and get information about how to activate your community
• Following V-Day on Facebook and Twitter
• Sharing ONE BILLION RISING with your networks
• Signing up for our text message updates by texting BILLION to 50555
• Viewing and sharing the short film vday.org/shortfilm, and the Break the Chain video: http://ow.ly/fo9fH  
• Filming an “I Am Rising” video and sharing it on OneBillionRising.org

# # #

About V-Day

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. In 2012, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events organized by volunteer activists in the U.S. took place around the world educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 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. Over 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements including Worth Magazine‘s 100 Best Charities, Marie Claire Magazine‘s Top Ten Charities, one of the Top-Rated organizations on Philanthropedia/Guidestar and Great Nonprofits. www.vday.org