Archive for the "V-Day" Category
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Want to know why we’re RISING for Justice in 2014? Check out the
latest piece by Eve in The Guardian, and join us on 14 February to
RISE, RELEASE, and DANCE
“This year we are escalating and deepening the campaign with One
Billion Rising for Justice. Justice is about restoring the primacy of
connection so that we understand that violence against women is not a
personal problem, but connected to other systemic injustices whether
they be patriarchal, economic, racial, gender, or environmental…this
year we will go further, releasing, dancing, putting our bodies on the
line with specific demands and visions that through our numbers,
solidarity and energy cannot be denied. Come rise with us.”
READ full piece >
WANT MORE? Check Out These Recent Articles on Eve and One Billion
Rising for Justice:
Agence France-Presse: “Ensler Hails India’s ‘Upheaval’ A Year After Fatal Gang-Rape”>
Guernica: “Eve Ensler: Our Work Now Is Embodiment” >
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All of us at V-Day were heartbroken to learn of the passing of Sister Mary Nerney, a lifelong advocate for incarcerated women and survivors of domestic violence.
We are blessed to have had the opportunity to work with Sr. Mary over the years. As the Founder of STEPS To End Family Violence, her dedication to ending violence against women and girls was constant. The way she worked – with love, selflessness, and generosity – will continue to inspire and fuel us.
Sr. Mary was a pillar in her East Harlem community and a leader in the Catholic social justice movement. In addition to STEPS, she founded Greenhope Services for Women, the Incarcerated Mothers Program, and was a founding member of the Coalition for Women Prisoners at the Correctional Association of NY and co-chair of the Coalition’s Violence Against Women Committee.
“When I had given up on myself and lost all hope of ever being released from prison…Sr. Mary was advocating for me. Telling people they should not forget…they must not forget. I will forever be thankful to her and for her…she became my mother.” -Donna Hylton, Community Health Advocate for the Coming Home Program and longtime V-Day activist.
We send our deepest love to the STEPS family, and everyone who had the pleasure of knowing and working with Sr. Mary.
In solidarity,
V-Day
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Today is #GivingTuesday. In a wonderful synchronicity, V-Day received our third consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator today, a distinction held by only 11% of groups rated.
With your support, the V-Day movement has raised over $100 million for groups working to end violence against women and girls. City of Joy has graduated 311 women. Together, we galvanized over one billion women and men in 207 countries to create the largest global mass action to end violence against women and girls with our ONE BILLION RISING CAMPAIGN on 14 February 2013.
With your continued support, together we can take this movement to the next level, and mobilize over ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE on 14 February 2014.
With V-gratitude and love,
V-Day core – Eve, Susan, Cecile, Christine, Monique, Purva, Shael, Tony, Kate, Amy, Laura, Carl, Joliz, Noelle, & Kristina
Support the global movement to end violence against women and girls. DONATE to V-Day* >
*December 31st is the last day to make charitable donations in order to claim them on your 2013 tax return. 89 cents of every dollar you give goes to ending violence against women and girls. V-Day is a top rated charity on Guidestar (4 out of 4 stars) and Charity Navigator (Silver level Participant).
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Dear V-Activists,
The end of the most extraordinary year is almost upon us! Together with you, our amazing global team of activists, we created the largest mass action to end violence against women and girls in the history of humankind.
V-Day’s 15th anniversary year was unprecedented in every respect. One Billion women, men, and youth in 207 countries were inspired to STRIKE, RISE, and DANCE to end violence against women and girls. Record numbers of V-Day events were produced. The fourth class of women graduated from the City of Joy and returned to their communities with confidence, skills and knowledge to lead. Safe houses, rape crises centers and sexual assault campus programs kept their doors open despite government shut downs and long odds, laws in many countries were changed, and the Violence Against Women Act was reauthorized in the US.
Our 2013 Annual Report – ONE BILLION RISING documents the magnitude of the incredible action that you made possible. We invite you to read it, explore and reflect on the power of our solidarity as we ROSE to end violence against women and girls.
In an effort to be sustainable, we are offering the report in an interactive online format. We hope you enjoy it.
CLICK HERE for the 2013 Annual Report – ONE BILLION RISING >
As you bring V-Day and ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE forward into your communities, we ask that you consider making a donation to support our work. Every donation you make ensures art and activism is at the core of our work to empower women and girls worldwide. We are so lucky to have you with us. You can donate online at vday.org/donate
With deepest gratitude and V-love,
V-Day core – Eve, Susan, Cecile, Christine, Monique, Purva, Shael, Tony, Kate, Amy, Laura, Carl, Joliz, Noelle, & Kristina
Support the global movement to end violence against women and girls
DONATE to V-Day* >
CLICK HERE for the 2013 Annual Report – ONE BILLION RISING >
REQUEST a paper copy of the Annual Report >
*December 31st is the last day to make charitable donations in order to claim them on your 2013 tax return. 89 cents of every dollar you give goes to ending violence against women and girls. V-Day is a top rated charity on Guidestar and Charity Navigator.
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
– VIEW the 2013 Annual Report – ONE BILLION RISING
– REGISTER Your Event on the One Billion Rising For Justice map
– WATCH “This is What Justice Looks Like” Videos
– READ: the First in Our New Blog Series by Zillah Eisenstein: “Imagine A World With Justice”
– SHARE “What Justice Looks Like” to you via video, words, song, art, or poetry
– MEET New Global Coordinators
– READ The Latest Press Release
– CONNECT With Activists all over the world
– DONATE to V-Day
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In a little over a week, you, our incredible V-Activists, have raised over $203,655 for the V-Fund for the Philippines. Your donations are already making an impact, with the first caravan of relief goods including food, sanitary napkins, underwear, diapers, baby formula, and medicines currently on their way to 20,000 families. Below is an update from One Billion Rising Director Monique Wilson, as well as a letter from our partners on the ground, GABRIELA and Gabriela Women’s Party. We wanted to share this with all of you. All your generosity and support helped make this possible.
UPDATE: Lingap Gabriela, BALSA Starts Yolanda/Haiyan Mission Trek for Eastern Visayas, Philippines
Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Emmi De Jesus yesterday joined the BALSA multi-sectoral disaster aid caravan that left Manila on November 21st on a rough road trip to deliver at least a dozen trucks loaded with relief packs, hope and solidarity to communities in the Eastern Visayas waylaid by the super typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan.
The women’s rights solon heads the LINGAP (“aid”) GABRIELA team, composed of 30 urban poor leaders and women health care workers who toiled the past few nights in bundling up “Mother and Child Relief Packs” containing underwear, sanitary napkins and VAW (Violence Against Women) educational flyers, aside from over 20,000 family packs with standard relief items containing food provisions for 3 days. The fliers, written in Tagalog and Waray languages, provided instructions for women to defend themselves from gender violence in situations where they are vulnerable.
De Jesus added that she wants to zero in on the reported incidences of violence against women and children and the rising risks to human trafficking especially in the totally devastated areas of Samar and Leyte where poverty translates into lawlessness and criminality. “The Gabriela center for women’s services is not only wrecked. Our staff went to Tacloban and surrounding towns last week and reported they lost their hospitals, clinics, and schools, which makes women so vulnerable and all the more without access to health services,” De Jesus explained.
To help the public follow their progress, the organizers put up the Twitter hashtag #TabangEV where they post pictures and stories of updates, as well as action bulletins for donors and volunteers.
DONATE to the V-Fund for the Philippines (all donations will be matched) >
Letter From GABRIELA & Gabriela Women’s Party
Dear V-Day and One Billion Rising sisters and brothers,
In behalf of the women and children of the typhoon-affected provinces of the Philippines, we thank you for your kind help and donations.
Lingap Gabriela and our relief partner, Bayanihan Alay sa Sambayanan (BALSA) is set to leave tomorrow for the national relief mission to Eastern Visayas.
Along with 20,000 family relief packs containing food provisions for 3 days, we will also be distributing mother and child relief packs to help ease the suffering and particularly address the urgent needs of women and children affected by Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan.
The Lingap Gabriela delegation will also be looking into the condition of women and children especially amid reports of rape and violence against women and children in the area. Psycho-social first aid sessions will also be conducted to help victims, especially children, cope with the trauma.
We are gearing up for more relief and service missions in the coming weeks to address the needs of other areas affected by the typhoon.
Once more, our heartfelt gratitude.
Sincerely,
Joms Salvador
Secretary General, GABRIELA Alliance of Filipino Women
Lana Linaban
Secretary General, Gabriela Women’s Party
DONATE to the V-Fund for the Philippines (all donations will be matched) >
WATCH First relief caravan kicks off from Quezon City >
WATCH: What Justice Looks Like To Joms Salvador, Secretary General, GABRIELA Alliance of Filipino Women >
One Billion Rising For Justice Philippines – UPCOMING EVENTS!
Upcoming One Billion Rising for Justice events in the Philippines include:
- THE STATE OF FEMALE JUSTICE IN THE PHILIPPINES
As part of the launch of One Billion Rising for Justice Philippines, Gabriela, Gabriela Women’s Party and the New Voice Company will be presenting THE STATE OF FEMALE JUSTICE IN THE PHILIPPINES with the theme – “WOMEN RISING AFTER DESTRUCTION.” After a natural and man-made disaster, communities face hunger, illness, displacement, trauma and death, but women and children face particular risks from sexual violence and trafficking. The event will explore the deeper causes and consequences of environmental and social injustice, and the specific impact on women, and will also highlight how our incredible community women are re-building, organizing and Rising after the destruction of typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. At the end of the panel there will be a sharing of the report from our Gabriela Women’s Mission/Caravan to the devastated areas. The event will culminate with a memorial/solidarity OBR action for the survivors and victims of the storm, led by the Gabriela community women.
- “RISE FOR JUSTICE” AT THE PHILIPPINE CONGRESS
“Rise for Justice” Exhibit – a photo exhibit that will highlight the cases of violence against women in children (VAWC) and the actions taken by the different municipalities to fight violence against women. Support will be gathered from Legislators and Local Government officials to address VAW through concrete programs at the national and local level. The event, which will take place at the North Wing Lobby of the Philippine House of Congress, is an initiative of Gabriela Women’s Party, the House of Representatives Committee on Women and Gender Equality and the Association of Women Legislators Foundation, Inc. It is in commemoration of November 25: National Consciousness Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Children and will launch the “RISE FOR JUSTICE” campaign of Gabriela Women’s Party. The event will also highlight the vulnerability of women and children to violence during a calamity situation.
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V-Day is so proud to announce the addition of two extraordinary women, Kimberlé Crenshaw and Wendy Schmidt to our V-Board, a group that provides vision, leadership, and wisdom to help guide and support V-Day in its work. They join current V-Board members Carole Black, Jennifer Buffett, Rosario Dawson, Eve Ensler, Jane Fonda, Mellody Hobson, Katherine McFate, Pat Mitchell, Thandie Newton, Emily Scott Pottruck, Amy Rao, Cari Ross, Sheryl Sandberg, Lisa Schejola Akin, Regina Kulik Scully, Susan Celia Swan, Charlize Theron, and Kerry Washington.
Kimberlé Crenshaw, Professor of Law at UCLA and Columbia Law School, has been a part of the V-Day movement for over ten years including performing her original monologue “Respect” at V-Day Harlem in 2002, taking part in the premiere of the V-Day documentary Until The Violence Stops at Sundance in 2004, participating in two marquee events at the Until The Violence Stops: NYC festival in 2006, leading a discussion on “Intersectionality and the New Orleans Experience” at SUPERLOVE at the Superdome as part of V-Day’s ten year anniversary celebration V TO THE TENTH in 2008, and participating in The State of Female America and The State of Female Justice panel discussions in 2012 and 2013 as part of One Billion Rising.
Kimberlé is a leading authority in the area of Civil Rights, Black feminist legal theory, and race, racism, and the law. Crenshaw has worked extensively on a variety of issues pertaining to gender and race in the domestic arena including violence against women, structural racial inequality, and affirmative action. Crenshaw coined two groundbreaking frames – Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality – that have influenced scholarship and policy pertaining to discrimination and the challenge of inclusion across multiple disciplines and social contexts. A specialist on race and gender equality, she has facilitated workshops for human rights activists in Brazil and in India, and for constitutional court judges in South Africa. Her groundbreaking work on Intersectionality has traveled globally and was influential in the drafting of the equality clause in the South African Constitution.
In 1996, Crenshaw co-founded the African American Policy Forum, a gender and racial justice legal think tank, which houses a variety of projects designed to deliver research-based strategies to better advance social inclusion. In 2011, Crenshaw founded the Center for Intersectionality & Social Policy Studies at Columbia Law School, which aims to foster critical examination of how social structures and related identity categories such as gender, race, and class interact on multiple levels, resulting in social inequality.
Wendy Schmidt is the President of The Schmidt Family Foundation, where she works to advance the development of renewable energy and the wiser use of natural resources. The foundation houses its grant-making operation in The 11th Hour Project, which supports more than 150 nonprofit organizations in program areas including climate and energy, ecological agriculture, human rights, and our maritime connection.
The 11th Hour Project is currently partnering with V-Day to create the V-World Farm, a sustainable farm based on 338 hectares of arable land located near the village of Nyanghezi, about 30 km South of Bukavu, approximately 20 km South of the City of Joy.
Wendy has been a supporter within the V-Day movement for many years and has traveled to Bukavu, DRC to visit and support City of Joy and the V-World Farm. In July 2013, Wendy was a featured speaker at “CITY OF JOY: The Story of Women Turning Pain to Power to Planting,” a panel discussion at The Paley Center for Media where she joined V-Day Congo Director/Director of City of Joy Christine Schuler Deschryver, Eve Ensler, and V-Board Members Pat Mitchell, Thandie Newton, and Amy Rao.
In 2009, Wendy and her husband Eric Schmidt, created the Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI), and in 2012 launched the research vessel, Falkor, as a mobile platform to advance ocean exploration, discovery, and knowledge, and catalyze sharing of information about the oceans. Furthering her commitment to ocean health issues, Wendy partnered with XPRIZE to sponsor the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup XCHALLENGE, following the Deep Horizon disaster, as well as the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE, a prize that will respond to the global need for better information about the process of ocean acidification, one of the harbingers of climate change.
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Activists in 122 countries have already signed up to participate in One Billion Rising for Justice, with Algeria, Armenia, Palestine, and Papua New Guinea most recently signing on. In the past week alone, 144 new RISERS have joined us, along with incredible groups such as Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, and Idle No More!
If you are not a part of the growing number of women, men, and youth around the globe who are signing up to rise for justice, then please join us today!
VISIT us at onebillionrising.org
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This Thursday, Women Thrive Worldwide, MTV Girl Code’s Tanisha Long, and Haitian activist Guerda Lexima-Constant will be joined by student activists from around the country to rally for the passage of the International Violence Against Women Act.
WHAT: Rally To End Violence Against Women
WHEN: Thursday, November 21, 1:00pm ET
WHERE: Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill
RSVP here >
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V-Day has set up a V-Fund to benefit women and men on the ground immediately. 100% of donations will go directly to these efforts via GABRIELA and Gabriela Women’s Party. All donations made to the V-Fund will be matched. Please read the below letters from One Billion Rising Director Monique Wilson and V-Day Founder/Artistic Director Eve Ensler, and consider donating whatever you can – every little bit helps.
DONATE >
From Monique in Manila:
As you can see from the news, the destruction from super storm Haiyan (local name Yolanda) was on such a massive scale – the likes of which our country has never seen before. Five million affected in the storms path, a million homeless, 10,000 dead in one city alone (we do not have yet the death toll from other cities and provinces), mass burials because there were not enough body bags, corpses still hanging from the trees or laying on the streets, entire towns wiped out and destroyed. Two thirds of the country was hit and as of today, several of our 7,000 islands have already gone missing from the map. And along with that, entire towns and communities. There is another big storm arriving on Wednesday, and reports of at least three more before Christmas.
The sad news is that so many of our GABRIELA communities – rural and peasant women, fisherfolk and farmers – especially those who lived on the coastal towns – have been affected. Women who led the incredible risings in these villages, towns and cities have lost families, loved ones and lost their homes. GABRIELA is the largest grassroots based womens alliance in the Philippines who provide direct services to women and advocate for their rights.
The country is still in desperate need for help and V-Day and One Billion Rising is calling on all of you, our Rising sisters and brothers, to please donate what you can. V-Day has set up a V-Fund to make donating easy and secure. 100% of the donations will go straight to the local GABRIELA and Gabriela Women’s Party chapters to directly benefit the people on the ground.
Funds raised will be used for a women’s mission in the most affected areas – to provide direct services – food, clothing, shelter, medical and health needs specific to women – as well as psycho-social support for the women survivors. In disasters, even in evacuation centers – we know that sexual violence heightens and we need to ensure the safety and protection of the women and girls.
Despite the horror, the immense sorrow and heartbreak – the Gabriela women from the poorest communities here who have been the worst affected – continue to inspire me. Despite having no homes, no food, no water and nothing at all except their spirit, their will and their hearts – they have been sending me messages to say THE RISING CONTINUES. NOTHING WILL STOP US. They told me “OUR RISING FOR JUSTICE WILL BE BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN THE STORM.”
Thank you my dearest sisters and brothers of my heart. There is much to do – but we are moving forward. We will Rise. And we will continue to Rise and dance in memory of everyone and everything that we have lost – and for the future we are all dreaming for.
Thank you for keeping my beloved country in your embrace. It has meant so much to us.
With love,
Monique
DONATE >
From Eve in Berlin:
Dear our most generous One Billion Rising and V-Day activists,
The Philippines was the site of one of the biggest risings for One Billion Rising 2013. We need to rise for our sisters and brothers in the Philippines now.
This huge crisis in the Philippines that comes as a result of climate change, and which is a natural and human-made disaster – connects us all. It connects us to people and to the land.
There are so many factors that contribute to a crisis. There is the storm – a natural phenomenon. There is climate change. And there are the things that we are doing to the land, like mining, that are done out of greed. We need to look at what our countries do in the name of profit, that affect the most vulnerable communities around the world in times like this. When the mountains are gone because of mining, what higher ground can people go to during a storm surge?
All of these factors make it even more evident why we need to Rise For Justice. Why we need to Rise right now. Why we need to Rise for the Philippines. And in any natural or environmental disaster, it is the women in the most marginalized, the most oppressed and impoverished communities, who suffer the most.
The need to wake up to what is happening in the Philippines is a major call for the world.
I have traveled the world, far and wide – but I do not know of any organization that is as committed, as radical, as organized and as dedicated to the women in the grassroots communities as GABRIELA in the Philippines. They led the incredible One Billion Risings there. They are on the ground, with the people – and every dime you contribute will get to the women and children affected and their families. Whatever we raise through activist donations, will get matched.
With love and thanks,
Eve
DONATE >
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Footage of the evening also available at GRITtv >
The State of Female Justice in America
New York, NY
Thursday, November 7
8:00pm ET (GMT -4)
Building on last year’s sold-out public forum on the State of Female America, V-Day is bringing together a stellar group of women for a public panel discussion on The State of Female Justice.
Hosted by Laura Flanders (GRITtv) and featuring:
Cathy Albisa – National Economic & Social Rights Initiative
Kimberlé Crenshaw – Columbia Law School / UCLA Law School
Eve Ensler – V-Day
Monique Harden – Advocates for Environmental Human Rights in New Orleans
Donna Hylton – STEPS to End Family Violence
Saru Jayaraman – Restaurant Opportunities Centers United
Sylvia McAdam – Idle No More
Join us as we explore why women experience economic, racial, and cultural violence; and ask ourselves what might real justice look like for women in America?
Meet the Women Behind The State of Female Justice in America
WATCH Previous RISE4JUSTICE Livestreams!
– RISE4JUSTICE: An Evening with Dr. Denis Mukwege & Eve Ensler >
– RISE4JUSTICE: Malalai Joya in Conversation with Eve Ensler >