On February 14th, many people will be celebrating a day dedicated to love, chocolate, flowers, and stuffed teddy bears. Some may go out to dinner with their significant others, while some take advantage of the day after cheap chocolate and eat it with their friends (cats). However, this day has taken on another, extremely important meaning. V-Day is also the name of a global activist movement dedicated to ending violence against women and girls.
In 1994, playwright Eve Ensler broke ground with her play The Vagina Monologues. The play was based on interviews Ensler conducted with women, and addressed women’s sexuality and the social stigmas surrounding rape and abuse. This play started discussion among women, who began to share their own stories of violence they had endured. Ensler came to realize that the play could become a tool for moving people to act to end violence. In 1998, Ensler established the charity organization V-Day, and held a benefit showing of her play that raised over $250,000.
Today, V-Day has expanded without bound. Over 58,000 V-Day events are held annually, and its’ 2012 1-BILLION RISING campaign being the biggest mass action in human history. V-Day holds large-scale benefits and produces innovative gatherings, films and campaigns to educate and change social attitudes towards violence against women. V-Day has provided funding for women’s shelters in the middle-East, provided cell-phones to oppressed women so they can contact these shelters, created a survivor community in the Democratic Republic of Congo, helped create foundations that provide equality for women in developed countries, and so much more.
V-Day was created out of an outrage toward the statistic that 1 in 3 women in the world will be physically or sexually abused in their lives. On Valentine’s Day this year, it is important to remember that love shouldn’t hurt, and to join this cause in ending violence against women. What better way to show your love for your mothers, sisters, girlfriends, or wives than to participate in this campaign that works to provide safety and equality around the world. For information on how you can donate, volunteer, or become part of the movement visit www.Vday.org.