Archive for the "Press Releases" Category
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Robert McCann / Michigan Senate Democrats
rmccann (at) senatedems.org; 517.980.3494
Susan Celia Swan / V-Day
susan (at) vday.org; 917.865.6603
Kate Fisher / V-Day
kate (at) vday.org; 917.291.3082
June 15, 2012 – On Monday, June 18th, Michigan Senators and Representatives will be joined by Tony Award winning playwright and V-Day Founder/Artistic Director Eve Ensler as well as local activists and actors for a special performance of Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues on the Michigan Capitol Steps. The performance, which will take place between 6pm and 8pm, is part of an organized response to the recent banning of Michigan State Rep. Lisa Brown from publicly speaking in the House. On June 14th, Rep. Brown was banned by Majority Floor Leader Jim Stamas and House Republicans for using the word “vagina” during a debate on a bill that puts new restrictions on abortion providers. Brown, who voted against the legislation, told supporters of the bill, “I’m flattered you’re all so concerned about my vagina. But no means no.”
“For 14 years at V-Day, we’ve seen the power of saying the word ‘vagina.’ We’ve seen how it’s freed women from their shame and empowered them to break the silence and become leaders in their communities. By saying the word ‘vagina’ and making it okay to say the word ‘vagina,’ we take away the humiliation, fear, and myths that often surround it,” statedEnsler. “Censoring a woman for saying a word that is a body part that 51% of their constituents have is a repression that we have not and should not ever witness in this country.”
Sen. Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D- East Lansing), Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor), Rep. Barb Byrum (D- Onondaga), Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes (D-Saginaw), Rep. Dian Slavens (D- Canton Township), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D- Detroit), Rep. Lisa Brown (D-West Bloomfield), Rep. Vicki Barnett (D-Farmington Hills), and Rep. Joan Bauer (D-Lansing) will perform along with Ensler and local actors.
“I look forward to joining these powerful women from across the nation in sending a message that we are proud of ourselves, proud of our bodies and proud of the message that we have to offer,” said Senator Whitmer, the highest-ranking woman in Michigan Government. “I want my two daughters to know that their Mom and countless other women stood up for them as they grow into the next generation of strong women.”
“They banned me from speaking because I dared say vagina, the correct, medical name of apart of a woman’s anatomy these lawmakers are trying to regulate,” added Representative Brown. “I’m outraged that there are Michigan legislators that not only want to dictate what women can do, but what we can say.”
Local and state activists as well as actors have also signed on to perform and protest on the Capital Steps on Monday. Over the past 14 years V-Day has mobilized activists from more than 140 countries and worked tirelessly on a grassroots level to demand an end to all forms of violence against women and girls. This latest action in Michigan will call on the many college and community V-Day organizers in the area to step up and let the House Republicans know that banning ‘vagina’ is not acceptable.
“Nowhere is freedom of speech more essential than in our legislative bodies,” said Senator Warren. “What we are facing is not simply a question of pro-choice or anti-choice policy – this is about whether women will be allowed to freely participate in the debate. It is an issue that should disturb and engage Michiganders from every corner of our state.”
Activists who would like to get involved can contact Valerie Keefe who will provide further information. Valerie can be reached at vkeefe@senatedems.org or by phone at (517) 316-6420.
There is also a Facebook event page for the event https://www.facebook.com/events/268583796582574
# # #
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 took place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world, educating millions ofpeople about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 million and 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 14,000 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
European Parliament Member Isabelle Durant released the following press release:
Read in English
Communiqué de presse: Le PE lance un appel à l’ONU pour une interdiction mondiale des mutilations génitales
A l’initiative d’Isabelle Durant et des députées de l’organisation du V-day [1], le Parlement européen vient d’adopter, à une très large majorité, ce jeudi 14 juin une résolution appelant les Nations Unies à se prononcer pour une interdiction des mutilations génitales féminines au niveau mondial.
Pour Isabelle Durant, vice-présidente du Parlement européen à l’initiative de cette résolution: “Cette résolution s’inscrit dans une stratégie à l’échelle des Nations unies, une stratégie d’un appel international à l’interdiction des mutilations génitales. Un certain nombre de femmes se sont engagées depuis des années comme, par exemple, Mme Chantal Compaoré, qui est la première dame du Burkina Faso, pour lancer cet appel à l’échelle internationale. D’autres pays européens ont, eux, déjà souscrit à cette interdiction depuis longtemps. Il faut donc que ce dossier puisse avancer et notre résolution peut y contribuer à l’assemblée générale des Nations unies.
Surtout, il faut que nous nous rendions compte que l’interdiction est un pas extrêmement important, politiquement, en terme designal, mais qu’elle ne nous dispense évidemment pas de travailler de toutes les manières possibles avec les groupes d’hommes mais surtout de femmes quipratiquent ces mutilations. Il faut que nous puissions, en prévention, en accompagnement, soutenir des programmes.
S’il y a une interdiction généralisée, reprise par les Nations unies, il y aura, comme pour d’autres dossiers, comme pour les mines antipersonnel ou d’autres, une stratégie de suivi, d’accompagnement. C’est très important si nous voulons, à terme, éradiquer ce fléau pour toutes les femmes de la planète.”
[1] Le 6 mars 2012 Isabelle Durant a joué dans la pièce des monologues du vagin interprétée par 9 députées européens, toutes cosignataires de la résolution votée aujourd’hui. La performance avait était rendue possible grâce au concours de l’organisation V-Day, un mouvement mondial pour en finir avec la violence faite aux femmes et aux filles.
Resolution in FR
__________________________________________________________________
English
European Parliament Calls On The UN For A Global Ban On Female Genital Mutilation
At the initiative of Isabelle Durant and the MEPs of V-Day, the European Parliament has adopted, by an overwhelming majority, today, Thursday, June 14 2012, a resolution calling on the UN to decide for a ban on female genital mutilation worldwide.
For Isabelle Durant, Vice President of the European Parliament, who initiatiated the resolution: “This resolution is part of a strategy at UN level, an international call to ban female genital mutilation. A number of women have been engaged for years – for example, Chantal Compaore, who is the First Lady of Burkina Faso – to make this appeal to the international level. Other European countries have already subscribed to a ban for a long time. It is important that this matter can move forward and our resolution can contribute to that at the UN General Assembly.
Especially, it is necessary that we realize that the ban is an extremely important political signal, but it does not absolve us, of course, from the necessity to work in all possible ways, with men’s groups but especially with women who perform female genital mutilation. We must be able to support programmes on prevention and support.
If there is a general prohibition, taken up by the UN, there will be, as on other issues – like land mines and other – a strategy for follow-up and support. This is very important if we want to eventually eradicate this scourge for all women on the planet. “
On March 6, 2012, Isabelle Durant participated in The Vagina Monologues, which was performed by nine Members of the European Parliament, all of which are signatories of the resolution passed today. The performance was made possible through the support of the organization V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls.
Resolution in English
For photos, interviews, videos, etc. contact:
Terence Keane, Director of Public Relations
(510) 647-2917, tkeane@berkeleyrep.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BERKELEY REP & EVE ENSLER ANNOUNCE TEAM BEHIND EMOTIONAL CREATURE
Cast and creative team named for world premiere of Tony-winning playwright’s new show
MAY 15, 2012 – Today, Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced the cast and creative team for its world premiere of Eve Ensler’s Emotional Creature. This positive and propulsive new show – from the Tony Award-winning playwright, performer, and activist who created The Vagina Monologues – features a terrific choreographer, an innovative composer, four top designers, and an energetic ensemble of talented young women. Directed by Obie Award-winner Jo Bonney, Emotional Creature plays only 36 performances in the Roda Theatre. The limited engagement at Berkeley Rep begins previews on June 14, opens June 22, and runs through July 15. The lead producers of this premiere are Wayne Jordan and Quinn Delaney, Marjorie Randolph, and Jack and Betty Schafer; the executive producer is the Strauch Kulhanjian Family. The development of this production has been supported in part by The Mosse Artistic Development Fund.
Eve Ensler’s latest effort to empower people is based on her bestselling novel I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World. This powerful new play is made up of original monologues, irresistible songs, and music about and for girls. Placing their stories squarely center stage, it gives full expression to their secret voices and innermost thoughts, highlighting the diversity and commonality of the issues they face. Emotional Creature is a call, a reckoning, an education, an act of empowerment for girls, and an illumination for parents and for us all. It debuts in Berkeley following successful workshops in Johannesburg and Paris. Known for launching high-profile projects such as American Idiot and Passing Strange, Berkeley Rep is the perfect place to begin this journey.
“Emotional Creature is about being a girl in the world in 2012 and about discovering the girl in each of us,” Ensler remarks. “It is about changing the verb from please to create or defy or resist or imagine. It is about traveling and dancing and refusing. It is about telling secrets and breaking taboos and building a posse. Where else would we begin this in America than Berkeley, in what other theatre than Berkeley Rep, which has a gorgeous history of pushing the edge, engaging in social issues, and conjuring community. I am thrilled at the extraordinary, diverse, wildly talented, and committed actors, producers, and creative team – and of course our musical director Charl-Johan Lingenfelder and director Jo Bonney – who will take Emotional Creature to the next level.”
“Eve Ensler is a force of nature,” says Tony Taccone, artistic director of Berkeley Rep. “Her passion, joy, and complete commitment to the making of Emotional Creature were immediately apparent to me. She is dedicated to this almost antiquated idea that theatre can change lives – and she settles for nothing less. This show is more evidence of that idea. Ms. Ensler has found a way to give women, girls, and all of us an important opportunity to express ourselves in a creative and dynamic way. It’s thrilling for us to be part of it.”
Eve Ensler is the author of The Vagina Monologues, which has been translated into 48 languages and performed in over 140 countries, including sold-out runs off Broadway and on London’s West End. Her experience performing that show inspired her to create V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. Her other work includes plays such as The Good Body and Here, the memoir Insecure at Last, and the anthology A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and a Prayer, co-edited with Mollie Doyle.
Jo Bonney has directed world premieres for noted writers such as Alan Ball, Eric Bogosian, Culture Clash, Jessica Goldberg, Neil LaBute, Warren Leight, Lynn Nottage, Darci Picoult, Suzan Lori-Parks, Jose Rivera, Christopher Shinn, Diana Son, Naomi Wallace, and Michael Weller. At Berkeley Rep, she staged the world premiere of Danny Hoch’s Jails, Hospitals & Hip Hop. Off Broadway, her production of Will Power’s The Seven won the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical and her staging of Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July won the Lortel Award for Best Revival.
The play features music and music direction by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder. Lingenfelder is an actor, musician, musical director, and composer who is renowned in his native South Africa as the creator of highly innovative and controversial shows, He has written original music for more than 50 plays, television programs, and films, and has served as musical director on more than 20 musicals. For the last five years, he has also co-owned the highly successful Warehouse Theatre in Cape Town. The choreographer for Emotional Creature is Luam. She is an internationally renowned choreographer who has worked with top artists including Beyonce, Rihanna, Brittany Spears, and Kanye West. Her film and television credits include Making the Band 4, Step Up Revolution, and Beyonce’s new documentary special, Year of 4. Luam has been nominated twice for Best Choreography by Dance Track Magazine, and her videos on YouTube have more than 30 million views.
The cast for Emotional Creature showcases six exhilarating performers. Ashley Bryant performed on Broadway in A Free Man of Color. Her other New York credits include shows with Creative Destruction, Cypher Productions, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and Theatre Askew, and her regional experience includes American Repertory Theatre, Crossroads Theatre Company, Florida Studio Theatre, Hartford Stage, and Shakespeare & Company. Molly Carden has appeared in The Bird, The Two-Ton Weight, and many readings and workshops at Ensemble Studio Theatre, where she is a company member. Her other credits include It’s Poison at New York’s Red Room and The Great Immensity for The Civilians and Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Emily S. Grosland has been seen at the California Theatre Center, Florida Studio Theatre, Sanguine Theatre Company, Stages St. Louis, and Theatre L’Homme Dieu. She also performed in Wagner’s Ring Cycle at Los Angeles Opera and the North American tour of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Joaquina Kalukango performed on Broadway in Godspell. Her off-Broadway credits include Rent at New World Stages and Hurt Village at the Signature Theatre, which earned her a nomination for the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. Sade Namei performed weekly in #Serials@theFlea as part of the Bats, the resident acting company at Flea Theater. Her other New York credits include The Flying Latke at the Flea, KNEAD at Performance Space 122, Leaves of Grass at The Cell, and In Medias Res, her one-woman show at the Iranian Theater Festival. Olivia Oguma appeared on Broadway in A Christmas Carol, Les Misérables, and Mamma Mia! and off Broadway in BFE at Playwrights Horizons, La Dispute at National Asian American Theatre Company, and Sarah Plain & Tall at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. She has also been seen on film and TV, at many regional theatres, and in the first national tour of Disney’s High School Musical.
The creative team for Emotional Creature features four exceptional designers. Myung Hee Cho (scenic and costume design) created costumes for Berkeley Rep’s premiere of 36 Views. Her many credits in the U.S. include productions at Center Theatre Group, Chicago Opera, the Kennedy Center, The Public Theater, Signature Theatre, and South Coast Repertory. Her work has also been seen in Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto, and beyond. Lap Chi Chu (lighting design) served as lighting designer for Berkeley Rep’s production of Ruined. His off-Broadway credits include New York Theatre Workshop, P.S. 122, The Public, and Second Stage Theatre, and his regional experience includes Arena Stage, CTG, Goodman Theatre, the Huntington Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, and Portland Center Stage. He earned the Angstrom Award for Career Achievement in Lighting Design from the L.A. Drama Critics Circle. Jake Rodriguez (sound design) is contributing to his fifth world premiere at Berkeley Rep, following Fêtes de la Nuit, Girlfriend, Passing Strange, and The People’s Temple. He has countless credits on local stages such as American Conservatory Theater, Aurora Theatre Company, California Shakespeare Theater, Magic Theatre, Shotgun Players, TheatreWorks, and Z Space. Shawn Sagady (video design) has designed for Broadway (Leap of Faith and Memphis) and off Broadway (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark and Father Comes Home from the War). His regional credits include La Jolla Playhouse, the Old Globe, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where he worked on The White Snake, which comes to Berkeley Rep this fall. The stage manager for Emotional Creature is Michael Suenkel, Berkeley Rep’s resident production stage manager.
Tickets for Emotional Creature start at $29 – half that for anyone under 30 years of age. Discounts are also available for groups, seniors, and students – and Berkeley Rep is giving away up to 3,000 free tickets to fellow nonprofits and government agencies that serve key constituencies, including at-risk youth, teens and young adults of both genders, and abuse victims of all ages, with priority given to organizations that serve women and girls. To request ticket donations, to nominate a worthy charity, or to discover other ways to become an Emotional Creature activist, visit berkeleyrep.org/ECaccess.
Let’s get Emotional! The Roda Theatre is located at 2015 Addison Street, near bus lines, bike routes, and parking lots – and only half a block from BART. For tickets or information, call (510) 647-2949 or click berkeleyrep.org
THOUSANDS HAVE COME TOGETHER AND ARE RISING – JOIN US!
V-Day celebrates women worldwide today and everyday. Activists everywhere inspire us and we thank and honor you all!
This V-Season, over 5,400 V-Day benefit events are taking place on college campuses and in communities in over 50 countries and all 50 of the United States.
Today alone, V-Day activists in seven countries including Canada, Spain, France, Switzerland, England, and Scotland, and in 18 of the United States, are activating their communities through events and teach-ins, raising funds and awareness to end the violence the afflicts one in three women worldwide.
The V-activities taking place are shaking up new and old institutions, engaging diverse groups of people. From European Parliament to Occupy Wall Street, from Austin to Belarus, V-energy is taking hold and ONE BILLION RISING has begun. Here’s a snapshot of the stories for you to read:
“Through theater, Austinites join movement to end violence against women” – The Statesman >
“Helping to end the violence” – Petaluma360.com >
“Shake up the Earth to End Violence” – The Brock Press >
“”Monologues” For U.S. Congress?” – The Wall Street Journal >
V-Day St. Catharines 2012: “Of the sacred and the profane” – The Spec >
First ever V-Day event in Belarus >
The Inventory: Eve Ensler – Interview by Hester Lacey for The Financial Times >
“Ensler Premieres the Occupy Monologue” – The Huffington Post >
We need everyone to join in our efforts, please take a minute right now to invite 5 women in your life to join us on 02.14.13. Join us now! >
On February 14th, 2013 we will walk out, dance, rise up, and demand an end to this violence, but the work begins TODAY. Now is the moment that we must gather, harness our collective energy, and escalate towards this celebration.
Today we must stand together and SAY NO TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS.
SEND an International Women’s Day V-Card
Celebrate International Women’s Day by supporting the global movement to end violence against women and girls. Make a donation to V-Day on behalf of friends and loved ones, and V-Day will send a specially designed 2012 International Women’s Day V-Card letting them know of their unique gift in their honor.
Photo Credit: Paula Allen
To send a V-Card on the donate page, check the box next to “Donate on behalf of a loved one?” labeled “Yes, I would like to send a V-Day e-card” and fill in the rest of the information to finish designing your gift.
CLICK HERE to give this V-Gift >
Press Release
Contact: press(at)vday.org
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PERFORMS “THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES” AS A CROSS-PARTY CALL TO ACTION TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS
Today in the European Parliament, nine MEPs¹ are joining V-Day founder/Tony award winning playwright Eve Ensler in a very special and unique performance of « The Vagina Monologues » to raise public and EU decision makers’ awareness on the importance to put an end to violence against women and girls in Europe and around the world.
“I am very moved and proud to join with women Members of the European Parliament who are standing with women across Europe and the world and putting their vision, votes, hearts and vaginas on the line to end violence against women and girls”, said Eve Ensler, founder of V-Day. “Their participation in V-Day signals the beginning of the rising².”
This performance is part of V-Day’s 2012 season of events and campaigns, joining over 1,850 colleges and communities around the world that will host V-Day benefit events, raising funds and awareness for local groups working to end the violence. This year events are also launching a year-long global campaign: ONE BILLION RISING. V-Day’s most ambitious campaign yet, ONE BILLION RISING will culminate on February 14, 2013, V-Day’s 15th anniversary, when women, activists, and concerned citizens across the world will organize community gatherings to express their outrage, demand change, strike, and dance in defiance of the injustices they have suffered.
In Europe, 45% of women have suffered from violence that includes sexual abuse, domestic violence, genital mutilation, sexual harassment in the workplace or at the college and university, rape, forced sterilisation, and trafficking for sexual exploitation³. The effects of this widespread violence against women affect not only the survivors and their families; it has a profound impact on the EU’s economy. Today, domestic violence alone costs the EU an estimated 16 billion Euros per year, amounting to 1 million Euros every half hour. If the budgets for prevention of this violence were increased by just 1 Euro, it could save 87 Euro in total costs of dealing with the violence.
The extent and impact of violence against women in Europe remains staggering in contrast to the actions currently in place to end it. V-Day European Parliament aims to change this by bringing EU political leaders together through Ensler’s seminal play to make the message heard that ending violence against women and girls is the most important issue of our time.
Tonight’s event is an urgent call to action on European decision makers to:
- honour their existing commitments (including to devise a European Strategy for preventing and combating violence against women, and to apply the existing policies and guidelines on combating violence against women in external action);
- ensure that future policies and programmes such as the 2014-2020 Rights and Citizenship Programme include ending violence against women and girls as a specific objective and ensure appropriate funding for implementation;
- sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (EU and all Member States)4.
END
¹ Franziska Brantner (Greens, Germany), Isabelle Durant (Greens, Belgium), Marielle Gallo (EPP, France), Ana Gomes (S&D, Portugal), Kartika Tamara Liotard (GUE NGL, Netherlands), Ulrike Lunacek (Greens, Austria), Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP, Finland), Renate Weber (ALDE, Romania) and Cecilia Wikström (ALDE, Sweden).
² On 14th February 2013, V-Day, on the occasion of its 15th Anniversary, is inviting ONE BILLION women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to violence against women and girls (see more below in the note to the editors).
³ See European Women’s Lobby Briefing on “Violence against women in the EU” (March 2012)
4 Please see more details in annex: Annex 1, Annex 2
Note to the Editors:
({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 are taking place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and 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 $85 million and 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 (2001), Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities (2006), one of the Top-Rated organizations on Great Nonprofits (2010). The ‘V’ in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina. Find out more on www.vday.org
({About One Billion Rising})
One in three women on the planet is raped or beaten in her lifetime. 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.
Find out more on www.onebillionrising.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Susan Celia Swan/ V-Day
+1 917-865-6603, susan@vday.org
Jen Hirsch/ Group SJR
+1 646-495-9723, vday@groupsjr.com
Christine Schuler Deschryver/V-Day Congo
+ 243998610946, christine@vday.org
CITY OF JOY, A REVOLUTIONARY CENTER FOR WOMEN SURVIVORS OF GENDER VIOLENCE, CELEBRATES FIRST GRADUATING CLASS ON JANUARY 28 IN BUKAVU, DRC
Bukavu, DRC – (January 27, 2012) – Tomorrow, Saturday, January 28, V-Day and the Fondation Panzi (DRC), will celebrate the first gradating class of City of Joy in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). City of Joy, a revolutionary community for women survivors of gender violence, opened its doors to the pilot class of 42 women this summer.
This first class has taken part in a diverse and impactful six-month curriculum that includes: group psychotherapy; self-defense; English; literacy; communications; civic and political education including civil rights; comprehensive sexuality education; massage; physical education, and horticulture. The program was designed by local staff to address the unique emotional, physical, and intellectual needs of Congolese women survivors of gender violence, and to provide them with the tools necessary to return to and thrive in their communities upon graduation.
“Having been with us for over six months, a marked change in the women is already evident,” said V-Day Congo Director & Director of City of Joy, Christine Schuler Deschryver. “Upon their arrival the faces of these women showed signs of despair, discouragement, and loneliness. Over time they have, little by little, been helped to use their past difficulties as a source of empowerment. Through the training and programming at City of Joy, these women have moved from pain to power and will return to their homes ready to help revolutionize their communities.”
The City of Joy is part of a worldwide campaign that was initiated in 2007 to raise awareness about the level of gender violence in the DRC and advocate for change throughout the Congo. Conceived and developed by the women on the ground in partnership with V-Day and the Panzi Fondation (DRC), the construction of the City of Joy began in September 2009 and opened its doors in June 2011. The second City of Joy class of 90 women is scheduled to begin the program on February 14, 2012.
About the City of Joy
City of Joy is the next chapter in V-Day’s ongoing campaign, STOP RAPING OUR GREATEST RESOURCE: Power to the Women and Girls of the DRC. The worldwide campaign was initiated in 2007 to raise worldwide awareness about the level of gender violence in the DRC and advocate for change throughout the Congo. Conceived and developed by the women on the ground in partnership with V-Day and the Panzi Fondation (DRC), the construction of the City of Joy started in September 2009 and opened its doors in June 2011. V-Day has generated significant funding from private foundations and individual donors as well as its vast global network of activists.
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 2011, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events took place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and 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 $85 million and 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 (2001), Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities (2006), one of the Top-Rated organizations on Great Nonprofits (2010). www.vday.org
# # #
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Jen Hirsch
V-Day
vday@groupsjr.com
(646) 495-9723
Selena Shen/Megan McKendry
Communications Coordinators, SAFER
communications@safercampus.org
SAFER and V-DAY LAUNCH SECOND ANNUAL WINTER BREAK CHALLENGE
SET GOAL OF PUBLISHING 300 CAMPUS SEXUAL VIOLENCE POLICIES
NEW YORK (December 15, 2011) – Students Active for Ending Rape (SAFER) and V-Day are proud to announce the launch the second annual Winter Break Challenge (WBC) which calls upon students across the country to submit their campus’ sexual violence policy to the Campus Accountability Project (CAP) Policies Database.
Beginning December 15, 2011, V-Day and SAFER are urging students to participate in the Campus Accountability Project during their winter break. The Winter Break Challenge asks students to register at www.safercampus.org and submit their school using CAP’s easy, step-by-step policy review form.
For the second year in a row, the CAP database has met its goal of participation from over 70 schools across the country. Currently, the database houses 233 policies in an online, public and searchable database, which details what colleges and universities are doing to prevent, reduce and respond to sexual violence on campus. The database publicly recognizes the successes of some schools’ sexual assault policies while also identifying gaps in others. This winter break, V-Day and SAFER are asking current students and recent alums to submit their schools into the CAP database to reach a goal of 300 published policies.
“Young people too often fall through the cracks of their campus bureaucracy. Policy is the first step to building an effective movement on campus,” said Sarah Martino, Board Chair of SAFER. “We encourage students to join SAFER and V-Day in identifying policy gaps and holding schools accountable for preventing and addressing sexual violence on campus,” said Susan Celia Swan, Executive Director of V-Day.
Over the course of the month, SAFER will be releasing a series of training videos providing an overview of analysis and addressing the components of a comprehensive sexual assault policy: tone and definitions; primary prevention and risk reduction; crisis intervention and long-term survivor services; and finally, reporting, disciplinary procedures and oversight. The videos will provide suggestions for concrete improvement to your school’s policy and programming to strengthen prevention efforts and improve the experiences of survivors on campus.
Students and alums can also help kick-start real change on campuses nationwide by encouraging their friends and fellow activists to submit to CAP. For those whose schools are already in the database, activists can post the Facebook event, share the Why Policy video, and engage with SAFER and V-Day across social media platforms.
ABOUT SAFER
Students Active for Ending Rape (SAFER) is a volunteer-run organization that has been training and supporting student activists for a decade. SAFER offers comprehensive programming to support student-led movements for campus sexual assault policy reform. In addition to the Campus Accountability Project Policies Database, SAFER’s website houses the Activist Resource Center, an online library of tools for organizers. SAFER also runs a national, in-person training program to help students kick-start policy reform campaigns and offers ongoing mentoring through the Activist Mentoring Program (AMP!).
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 2011, over 5800 V-Day benefit events took place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and 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 $85 million and educated over 300 million people 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. In 2001, V-Day was named one of Worth Magazine’s “100 Best Charities” and in 2006 one of Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities.
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LEARN MORE about CAP >
March 23, 2012 – The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2011 (VAWA – S.1925) still needs your help. In the coming days Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) may bring VAWA to a floor vote and he needs more co-sponsors to make sure it passes. Please call AND email your senators and urge them to co-sponsor and support a “clean” VAWA with no harmful amendments. NOW has made it super easy for everyone to contact their Senator, just click on the link below and add in your zip code, it won’t take you more then a minute and your support will go a long way towards ensuring that this vital piece of legislation get’s passed.
TAKE ACTION >
On February 2nd, 2012, The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2011 (S.1925) was passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is a huge victory, however our work has not ended. Next comes the full Senate vote. Right now, 38 senators are co-sponsors, but 60 are needed to assure final passage. We urge all of our activists call your senators TODAY to make sure that they are on board before the floor vote.
On November 30th, 2011, nearly 20 years after the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was first signed into law, U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) introduced legislation (S.1925) to further strengthen and improve the programs authorized under the landmark law to assist survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act includes several updates and improvements to the law, including:
- An emphasis on the need to effectively respond to sexual assault crime by adding new purpose areas and a 25 percent set-aside in the STOP state formula grant program and the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program;
- Improvements in tools to prevent domestic violence homicides by training law enforcement, victim service providers, and court personnel on identifying and managing high risk offenders and connecting high risk victims to crisis intervention services;
- Improvements in responses to the high rate of violence against women in tribal communities by strengthening concurrent tribal criminal jurisdiction over perpetrators who assault Indian spouses and dating partners in Indian country;
- Measures to strengthen housing protections for victims by applying existing housing protections to nine additional federal housing programs;
- Measures to promote accountability to ensure that federal funds are used for their intended purposes;
- Consolidation of programs and reductions in authorizations levels to address fiscal concerns, and renewed focus on programs that have been most successful;
- Technical corrections to updates definitions throughout the law to provide uniformity and continuity throughout the law.
The Leahy-Crapo legislation also includes important all-state minimum funding formulas for key grant programs, to ensure that small, rural states like Vermont and Idaho have access to the victim services grants authorized under VAWA, including STOP grants, grants under the Sexual Assault Services Program, the Rural Program, Rape Prevention Education grants, and transitional housing grants.
READ: Text of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2011
Section-By-Section Analysis of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2011
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy, November 30, 2011 >
Over the last eleven years, V-Day members have accomplished amazing results in the fight against gender-based violence everywhere. Now we need your help to make VAWA a reality for women worldwide.
Simple Ways To Take Action!
Write to your Senator/Representative
Download Sample Letter >
Write an Op-Ed
Download Sample Template >
Spread the word! Inform your online community be it in Facebook, Myspace,
Twitter or on your Blog!
Download Sample Blog Post >
Note: To find out who your member of Congress is, go to http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/
FOR MORE RESOURCES check out The National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence TOOL KIT
For information about the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA), click here >
Volunteers are needed for this one-day conference! V-Day is proudly partnering with Hunter College to present Sex, Power and Speaking Truth: Anita Hill 20 Years Later on Saturday, October 15th, which will bring together three generations to witness, respond, and analyze present day realities in law, politics, the confluence of race, class and gender, the persistent questioning of women’s credibility, issues of black masculinity and current cases of sexual harassment.
The conference will also feature “Speaking Truth to Power,” a performance curated by V-Day Founder/Artistic Director Eve Ensler and V-Day Programs & Development Director Purva Panday Cullman. The performance will include original works written by Edwidge Danticat, Asali Devan, Eve Ensler, Lisa Kron, Lynn Nottage, Mary Oliver, Kevin Powell and HopeAnita Smith.
VOLUNTEER >
Registration for the 14th Annual V-Day Season is now open.
For over 14 years, activists just like you have raised millions of dollars annually for over 13,000 groups working on the ground to end violence against women and girls.
Join V-Day and the thousands of activists at colleges and communities in over 140 countries who stage V-Day benefit productions of The Vagina Monologues — and other artistic works licensed by V-Day — to raise awareness and funds to end violence against women in their communities. Each year during V-Season, February – April, V-Day events take place on college campuses and in communities, theaters, churches, high schools and cafes worldwide educating millions about the issue and raising much needed funds for local anti-violence groups. This V-Season will be the build up to the Billion Women Rising campaign for our 2013 season which is our 15th Anniversary. Be a part of the momentum toward our 15 year Anniversary!
V-Day has a wide variety of events, from theatrical productions to film screenings and workshops. Organizers are not limited in how many events they can apply to organize, and can choose one, some or all of the following:
Theater:
The Vagina Monologues
A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer
Any One of Us: Words From Prison
Film Screenings:
Until The Violence Stops
What I Want My Words To Do To You
Workshops:
V-Men
Congo Teach-In
V-Girls Emotional Creature Club
JOIN US and experience the power of art and activism in action!
SIGN UP HERE for V-Day 2012 Events >
SIGN UP HERE for V-Girls Emotional Creature Clubs >
SPOTLIGHT on Women and Girls of Haiti Continues for Second Year
Each year V-Day increases awareness by focusing on a specific group of women in the world who are resisting violence with courage and vision. In 2012, V-Day’s Spotlight Campaign will, once again, be on the Women and Girls of Haiti. The Spotlight will highlight the high levels of violence against women and girls in Haiti, and will focus on the increased rates of sexual violence since the devastating earthquake that took place in January 2010. All funds raised through the Spotlight Campaign will be used to support a revolutionary national campaign in Haiti lead by a coalition of women activists – including longtime V-Day activist Elvire Eugene – that will address sexual violence through art, advocacy, safe shelter and legal services.