Archive for the "V-Day" Category
Posted — Filed under
V-Day
Tagged — No Comments
On February 16th, V-Day Founder/Artistic Director Eve Ensler will appear in the Paley Center and WNET’s new six-part TV series “She’s Making Media.” Hosted by V-Day Board member and president and CEO of The Paley Center for Media Pat Mitchell, “She’s Making Media” puts a slightly different lens on the subject of women’s role in media and concentrates on high-profile women who have used media in new and innovative ways. The February 16th episode will give viewers a unique and compelling glimpse into Eve’s life-story and her work as both a playwright and activist.
The series airs on New York’s THIRTEEN on Thursdays at 8:30pm and has featured Glenn Close, Marlo Thomas, V-Day Board member Jane Fonda, Arianna Huffington, and Maria Elena Salinas.
About the PaleyCenter:
Dedicated to the collection, preservation and exhibition of television and radio programs, the center possesses a collection of over 150,000 recorded programs covering more than 80 years of radio and television history.
Posted — Filed under
V-Day
Tagged — No Comments
http://www.care2.com/causes/women-graduate-from-gender-survivors-program…
By Ximena Ramirez
In the war torn area of the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo armed rebels rape and pillage women on a regular basis. Since 1996 sexual violence has been used to torture and humiliate women and girls. For them rape is an everyday reality. In fact, hundreds of thousands of women and girls have been raped in the DRC in that time and the numbers continue to grow. In this hopeless and desperate place, one very brave woman saw hope and joy.
Eve Ensler, founder of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls and the award-winning playwright and author of The Vagina Monologues is that woman. In Bukavu, Ensler saw a unique opportunity to empower women and girls to change their story by creating the City of Joy, a transformational community for survivors of sexual violence. The City of Joy was created and developed by the women of Eastern Congo to help those suffering from sexual violence to heal and rebuild their lives.
Women who visit the City of Joy can take part in a gender violence survivors program that involves activities such as group therapy, dance classes, theater, self-defense, and sex education. The program also provides women and girls with leadership development, and educational and income-generating opportunities.
Last month, the City of Joy celebrated its first graduating class. Ensler’s words on the celebration and progress made by the women and girls who participated in the program are awe-inspiring.
In a letter to activists about the celebration she writes about some of the inspirational things she saw during the celebration:
Women who could not lift their heads six months ago, strutting across a stage.
Women who despised their bodies, radiating beauty.
Women who had lost their voices, giving speeches that lived not on paper or memory, but in their thoughts.
Women who had stopped sleeping for years exploding with huge dreams.
Women who had become mute from horror, speaking poetry in just learned English.
Women who had stopped moving, knocking down attackers with powerful body shot.
Women who had stopped believing, planning their new jobs, careers, enterprises.
Forty-eight women per hour are raped in the Congo according to a study in the American Journal of Public Health. That’s 1,152 women every day. So many women and girls suffering from sexual violence need a place to go where they can heal and find joy again. Thanks to the City of Joy they now have a place to go.
Posted — Filed under
V-Day
Tagged — No Comments
On January 28, V-Day and the Fondation Panzi (DRC) celebrated the first graduating 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. V-Day Founder/Artistic Director Eve Ensler, Executive Director Susan Swan, Communications & Campaigns Manager Kate Fisher, photographer and long time V-Activist Paula Allen, and a delegation of incredible visionaries including V-Board members Pat Mitchell, Emily Scott Pottruck, and Amy Rao, and supporters Lauren Davis, Frannie Kieschnick, Belinda Munoz, Andrew Dew Steele, Erin Strain, and Marsha Williams all were welcomed at City of Joy to witness and celebrate the graduation ceremony of this first incredible class. Eve has written a note to all of you about the miracles that were witnessed at the graduation, please read:
Dearest Activists,
I am rejoicing, breathing in the victory and glorious time in Bukavu, the joy and aliveness in the expressions of the women of City of Joy, the music of their rising, the intensity of their recovery and the aliveness of their dreams. I want to thank each one of you for making this happen. I want to thank you for your time and devotion and brilliance and faith and work and love. I want to do a special shout for our Mama Christine [V-Day Congo Director & Director of City of Joy Christine Schuler Deschryver] who birthed City of Joy with her might and heart and Mama Bachu [City of Joy Programs Director] who focused her energy and Mama care of our girls, and Dr. Mukwege whose love and gentleness and vision surrounds all things. I want to thank the wondrous team at City of Joy who with such care and attention loved 42 women back to life. Thank you everyone of you who made this miracle possible–who believed in the women of Congo, who know that miracles happen when you value and trust and support and nurture and get out of the way. We need your support and your faith until the rising…
MIRACLES
Here’s some that I witnessed this month at City of Joy:
Women who could not lift their heads six months ago, strutting across a stage.
Women who despised their bodies, radiating beauty.
Women who had lost their voices, giving speeches that lived not on paper or memory, but in their hearts.
Women who had stopped sleeping for years exploding with huge dreams.
Women who had become mute from horror, speaking poetry in just learned English.
Women who had stopped moving, knocking down attackers with powerful body shots.
Women who had stopped believing, planning their new jobs, careers, enterprises.
Women who felt like refugees in their own country, building a V movement, claiming Congo as their own, demanding an end to the war, to corruption, to impunity, to rape.
Women who had lost their will, dancing, drumming singing.
Women who were aggressive from sorrow and humiliation and pain, tender now, comforting their sisters.
A father who had rejected his daughter and told her she had no value, standing on stage beside her, reading a speech of praise and admiration.
A husband of a raped women coming from the audience to proudly take her home.
Pink roses budding the day before graduation in the garden.
A leader named Christine Shuler Deschryver making all these miracles happen in six months through her extraordinary leadership with an inspired, brilliant team.
A Mama named Bachu raising up 42 girls to heal through therapy, through dance, through massage, learning how to read and write, speak English, learn agriculture and composting and self defense and communications and civics and cooking and sewing.
A doctor named Mukwege teaching sex education, helping women get birth control, being role model, being Papa.
Two V-Day staff, a woman named Susan and a woman named Kate organizing and gathering and inspiring and giving gifts and making everything work.
A photographer named Paula making glorious images that rather than capturing, freed the images and spirits.
A group of supporters from the U.S. traveling all that way to dance, love, support the women with many stuffed suitcases full of practical and glittering gifts and love.
A V-Day team in other parts of the world making this day possible by their devotion and care.
V-Day activists and donors generously giving the funds and energy that allowed for this rising.
Jeanne who represents all the women, once destroyed by rape by militias by madness by the destruction of her body becoming Jane becoming warrior becoming beauty becoming whole becoming sister becoming change becoming Congo.
Here are Miracles that are on the way:
Women returning to their villages with money and cell phones and skills and each other to build the new life.
A City of Joy radio station we will start with AFEM, to create the loudest and most pervasive voice for and by women in eastern Congo and around the world.
A new group of 90 women who will begin February 14 at City of Joy sent by NGO’s from all over Congo.
Land called V-World where we will grow the next stage of this movement. Where we will plant corn and rice and do pig farming and Talapia farming and create a cooperative run by hundreds of Congolese women expanding in every direction.
The revolution of women that has begun and will gather and will grow until the 42 become hundreds become thousands become millions of POWER FLOWERS, become a wild unstoppable garden popping up, blooming, in ever village, church, school, field and town.
Love,
Eve
READ “Congolese Women Graduate From Inaugural Rape Survival Class” (CNN) >
DONATE to City of Joy >
All Photos by Paula Allen for V-Day
Posted — Filed under
V-Day
Tagged — No Comments
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/28/world/africa/congo-survivors-graduation/in…
Congolese Women Graduate From Inaugural Rape Survival Class
By Faith Karimi
(CNN) — An inaugural group of Congolese women graduated Saturday from a gender violence survivors program in the nation’s east, where armed rebels roam the hills and rape residents.
Eastern Congo residents — including men and boys — have faced brutal rapes for years, with the assailants thrusting chunks of wood and guns into them in some cases.
As part of the program in Bukavu, 180 gender violence survivors took part in activities such as group therapy, dance classes, theater, self-defense and sex education.
The six-month program, called City of Joy, also teaches leadership skills with hopes that the women will help bolster peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“Upon their arrival, the faces of these women showed signs of despair, discouragement and loneliness,” said Christine Deschryver, Congo director of the program.
“Over time, they have, little by little, been helped to use their past difficulties as a source of empowerment. … These women have moved from pain to power and will return to their homes ready to help revolutionize their communities.”
The program is run by V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls founded by Eve Ensler, the award-winning playwright and author of “The Vagina Monologues.”
Congo’s program was created and developed by women on the ground and provides a platform to turn their pain to power, the group said.
Eastern Congo is vast and poverty-stricken, but rich in resources such as diamonds, timber and copper.
Large parts of the country lack authority, giving government soldiers and homegrown militias free rein to pillage and rape.
A study in the American Journal of Public Health last year reported that 1,152 women — or 48 per hour — are raped daily in Congo, a rate higher than previous estimates by aid agencies.
The eastern region is also a hot spot for the so-called “conflict minerals,” which led the United States to intervene after human rights groups said the resources are used to fund wars in the nation and neighboring countries.
While Congo is among the nations with the largest United Nations peacekeepers, the forces have been ineffective in stopping rapes in the sprawling, remote region.
Stability in Congo — which borders nine countries — is vital to Africa’s Great Lakes area. The eastern region has undermined peace in the nation years after a 1998-2003 conflict left 5 million people dead.
At the time, neighboring nations joined the civil war, arming rebel groups of choice to gain access to the vast resources. Some African soldiers later retreated, but some rebel groups remained and are mostly based in the east.
Posted — Filed under
V-Day
Tagged — No Comments
Two years ago today, the world could only watch as one of the worst natural disasters in living memory struck our brothers and sisters in Haiti. According to the Haitian government, over 230,000 people died as a result of that magnitude 7.0 earthquake, 300,000 more were injured and over 1,000,000 were left homeless. Today, over 500,000 people live in make-shift refugee camps across Haiti, and though these “tent cities” might provide some protection from the elements, they have become breeding grounds for disease and violence against women and girls. Since the earthquake, women and girls throughout Haiti have been at a heightened risk for sexual assault.
On January 12, 2010 we lost friends, loved ones, and allies, and it is in their memory that we must continue to help those that survived rebuild, renew, and reclaim their country and their lives. Activists on the ground are doing incredible work, and V-Day is so proud to be supporting these inspirational women and men. Through the two-year V-Day Spotlight Campaign on the Women & Girls of Haiti, V-Day activists around the world continue to raise awareness and funds to support a revolutionary national program in Haiti lead by a coalition of women activists – including longtime V-Day activist and AFASDA founder Elvire Eugene – that is addressing sexual violence through art, advocacy, safe shelter, and legal services. Many steps have already been taken towards a new and bright future for Haiti where women and girls are safe, however the work is only just beginning, the need for awareness and funds is as great today as it ever has been, as Elvire explains:
“Two years after the earthquake on January 12, 2010 that ravaged Haiti, some half a million people are still living in filthy tent cities where cholera and sexual violence runs rampant. In recent months, there has been a shift in international aid, moving from the “humanitarian phase” to the “recovery and reconstruction phase.” While we admire the great victories that this phase has lead to including the creation of 300,000 temporary jobs with 40% going to women, and the removal of 50% of the debris which equals about five million cubic meters – enough to fill five soccer stadiums – it is important to remember the needs of the survivors. AFASDA wants to thank the parents, victims, survivors, and all people & organizations like V-Day who with determination continue to help the women and girls of Haiti. With this help, we have an opportunity to truly rebuild a new society, a new nation.
GOD bless HAITI and our Friends.”
Elvire Eugene
AFASDA
TAKE ACTION: How YOU Can Help
DONATE (write “spotlight 2012” in the memo line) >
ATTEND a local V-Day 2012 Event >
HOST A Haiti Teach-In >
WATCH & SHARE this short video on the work being done on the ground >
LEARN MORE about V-Day’s work on the ground >
Posted — Filed under
V-Day
Tagged — No Comments
Join V-Day and make your voice heard through the Women4Libya online petition for greater representation of Libyan women in future governmental institutions. Women4Libya representative and activist Farah Abushwesha explains:
This has been a momentous year. Libya has proved to the world that the power of its people can topple regimes. We need to ensure that the spirit in which the revolution was waged is not lost. Now more than ever we need to unite and join all women networks together, so that we have a country that can inspire the world with a balanced government constituting fair proportions of youth, men, women, minorities deciding on issues that affect all across Libya. Please spend a little time sharing and signing this petition being circulated by Women4Libya, an initiative instigated by the LCSO (Libyan Civil Society Organisation) that focuses on bringing to light the voices of the Libyan Women and ensuring their inclusion in the reconciliation process and within the political, social and economical sectors of society. The lack of presence of Libyan women in the public domain remains one of the most challenging aspects facing the future of a new Libya. To exclude women in the national reconciliation and rebuilding process is to exclude a vital force in the reconstruction of a stable, representative and democratic Libya.
Libyan women are shocked that the proposed election laws give just a 10% quota for women in the 200-member assembly. The 8 Member Election Commission are all male. There is only a 14-day consultation period for the election rules. So we have a few days to get the numbers up. There was international support for UNSCR 1976 to liberate Libya. It was partly for a future of democracy, human rights and economic equality for all. Is it to be democracy, human rights and equality for half the population – men?
Please sign the petition by THIS Thursday, January 12th!
SIGN here >
Posted — Filed under
V-Day
Tagged — No Comments
Eve will be traveling to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) late this week. She will be live tweeting from the City of Joy as we gear up for the first graduation on Saturday, January 28th!
City of Joy is a revolutionary community for women survivors of gender violence in Bukavu, DRC, providing up to 180 Congolese women a year with an opportunity to benefit from group therapy; self-defense training; comprehensive sexuality education (covering HIV/AIDS, family planning); economic empowerment; storytelling; dance; theater; ecology and horticulture. Created from their vision, Congolese women run, operate and direct City of Joy themselves.
Don’t miss this opportunity to get updates directly from Eve!
Follow Eve on Twitter >
Follow Eve on Facebook >
Posted — Filed under
V-Day
Tagged — No Comments
http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/attorney-general-eric-ho…
On January 6, FBI Director Robert Mueller gave final approval to expand the FBI’s more than eight-decade-old definition of rape to count men as victims for the first time and to drop the requirement that victims must have physically resisted their attackers. Since 1929, the FBI has defined rape as the “carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will.” The revised definition covers any gender or victim or attacker and includes instances in which the victim is incapable of giving consent because of the influence of drugs or alcohol or because of age. This is a major policy change and will dramatically impact the way rape is tracked and reported nationwide.
Attorney General Eric Holder Announces Revisions to the Uniform Crime Report’s Definition of Rape
Data Reported on Rape Will Better Reflect State Criminal Codes, Victim Experiences
U.S. Department of Justice
January 06, 2012
Office of Public Affairs
(202) 514-2007/TDD (202)514-1888
WASHINGTON—Attorney General Eric Holder today announced revisions to the Uniform Crime Report’s (UCR) definition of rape, which will lead to a more comprehensive statistical reporting of rape nationwide. The new definition is more inclusive, better reflects state criminal codes and focuses on the various forms of sexual penetration understood to be rape. The new definition of rape is: “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” The definition is used by the FBI to collect information from local law enforcement agencies about reported rapes.
“Rape is a devastating crime and we can’t solve it unless we know the full extent of it,” said Vice President Biden, a leader in the effort to end violence against women for over 20 years and author of the landmark Violence Against Women Act. “This long-awaited change to the definition of rape is a victory for women and men across the country whose suffering has gone unaccounted for over 80 years.”
“These long overdue updates to the definition of rape will help ensure justice for those whose lives have been devastated by sexual violence and reflect the Department of Justice’s commitment to standing with rape victims,” Attorney General Holder said. “This new, more inclusive definition will provide us with a more accurate understanding of the scope and volume of these crimes.”
“The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Advisory Policy Board recently recommended the adoption of a revised definition of rape within the Summary Reporting System of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program,” said David Cuthbertson, FBI Assistant Director, CJIS Division. “This definitional change was recently approved by FBI Director Robert S. Mueller. This change will give law enforcement the ability to report more complete rape offense data, as the new definition reflects the vast majority of state rape statutes. As we implement this change, the FBI is confident that the number of victims of this heinous crime will be more accurately reflected in national crime statistics.”
The revised definition includes any gender of victim or perpetrator, and includes instances in which the victim is incapable of giving consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity, including due to the influence of drugs or alcohol or because of age. The ability of the victim to give consent must be determined in accordance with state statute. Physical resistance from the victim is not required to demonstrate lack of consent. The new definition does not change federal or state criminal codes or impact charging and prosecution on the local level.
“The revised definition of rape sends an important message to the broad range of rape victims that they are supported and to perpetrators that they will be held accountable,” said Justice Department Director of the Office on Violence Against Women Susan B. Carbon. “We are grateful for the dedicated work of all those involved in making and implementing the changes that reflect more accurately the devastating crime of rape.”
The longstanding, narrow definition of forcible rape, first established in 1927, is “the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will.” It thus included only forcible male penile penetration of a female vagina and excluded oral and anal penetration; rape of males; penetration of the vagina and anus with an object or body part other than the penis; rape of females by females; and non-forcible rape.
Police departments submit data on reported crimes and arrests to the UCR. The UCR data are reported nationally and used to measure and understand crime trends. In addition, the UCR program will also collect data based on the historical definition of rape, enabling law enforcement to track consistent trend data until the statistical differences between the old and new definitions are more fully understood.
The revised definition of rape is within FBI’s UCR Summary Reporting System Program. The new definition is supported by leading law enforcement agencies and advocates and reflects the work of the FBI’s CJIS Advisory Policy Board.
Click here to read a blog post from Director Carbon on the importance of the new definition of rape to our nation’s law enforcement, and for survivors of rape and their advocates. Click here to listen to the FBI’s podcast.
Posted — Filed under
V-Day
Tagged — No Comments
During the past year of revolution and change in Egypt, long-time V-Day activist and photojournalist Tara Todras-Whitehill has dedicated her time to document and highlight the role of women in both the uprising and the political landscape that followed Mukarak’s resignation. V-Day was proud to support Tara in this project, and we are pleased to share with you this important look at four women who are running in the first parliamentary elections:
My name is Tara Todras-Whitehill. I am a photojournalist based in Cairo, Egypt.
I returned to Cairo where I lived from 2005-2007 to photograph Egypt’s revolution from its first fitful marches to Mubarak’s resignation on February 11, 2011. As I watched history unfold indowntown Cairo, I was struck by the number of women participating in the protests. They commanded the respect of male protesters, who in other circumstances would have dismissed, harassed or even assaulted them.
I wondered what these women who had stood side-by-side with men at the revolution’s barricades would do next. I wondered howthey would turn
what they’d done into into real political power in Egypt’s new democracy. And so I decided to document female candidates running in Egypt’s first truly free parliamentary elections.
Of the four women profiled, none are likely to win their races. Magy and May have already lost to established, party-backed male candidates. Sanaa and Mona face long odds. Mubarak-era quotas guaranteed women at least 64 seats. But when parliamentary elections conclude in mid-January, most observers expect shockingly few women to have been elected. While this is not an ideal outcome, this project, supported by V-Day, will have documented the impressive example set by these four female candidates for all Egyptian women, chronicling theirstruggle for gender equality and political recognition, and highlighting the pressing need for more female representation in Egyptian political life.
Posted — Filed under
V-Day
Tagged — No Comments
V-Day is so proud to announce that V-Day Board member, philanthropist, and actor Salma Hayek has been chosen by President Nicolas Sarkozy to join France’s Legion of Honour.
Salma’s humanitarian contributions have been immeasurable. For years she has worked to increase awareness on violence against women, women’s rights, and discrimination against immigrants. Salma has been a part of V-Day since 2002 when she joined the V-Day Harlem cast of The Vagina Monologues and took part in the V-Day documentary Until The Violence Stops. Since 2004, she has been integral to supporting the women and girls of Juarez, Mexico, assisting local efforts and organizations and putting significant political pressure on the Mexican government to act over the unsolved murders of women in the bordertown. In 2008 Salma joined the V-Day Board, a group of extraordinary women who provide vision, leadership, and wisdom to help guide and support V-Day in its work. Salma has testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary supporting reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, and teamed up with Avon for their joint program Speak Out Against Domestic Violence.
Through her activism, acting, and producing, Salma has proved to be a woman of courage. She has lead by example, opening doors and creating new opportunities for women and girls everywhere. She continuously brings new voices into the fight for women’s rights, and raises awareness for important issues that are all too often kept silent.
“I am involved because I want women to know, in their dark hour, they are not alone. When they think nobody loves them or they’re disposable, or that it’s OK to die under those circumstances because they’re not important, I want them to know people care.” – Salma Hayek
The Legion of Honour is the highest national decoration. Established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, it rewards the outstanding merits of citizens in all walks of life, regardless of social, economic, or hereditary backgrounds. There are five levels of this award: grand croix; grand officier; commandeur; officier, and chevalier.