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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The campaign, launched on Valentine’s Day 2012, began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. On 14 February, 2013, people across the world will come together to express their outrage, strike, dance, and RISE in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women.  

RISING IN THE MEDIA

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

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

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

THE PLEDGE

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

THE APP

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

WHY DANCING?

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

ARTICLE SERIES

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

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

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

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

REACH ACROSS MULTI-SECTORS

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

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

HIGH PROFILE SUPPORT

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

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

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

EXAMPLES OF RISING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HOW YOU CAN RISE

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

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

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

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

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

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About V-Day

V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler's award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. In 2012, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events organized by volunteer activists in the U.S. took place around the world educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 million; educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it; crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns; reopened shelters; and funded over 13,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq. Over 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements including Worth Magazine's 100 Best Charities, Marie Claire Magazine's Top Ten Charities, one of the Top-Rated organizations on Guidestar and Great Nonprofits. vday.org