Comox Valley residents are invited to join the largest day of action in the history of V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.
A One Billion Rising gathering Feb. 14 begins at 1 p.m. on the plaza outside the Sid Williams Theatre.
One Billion Rising began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that one in three women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at seven billion, this adds up to more than one billion women and girls.
On Thursday, V-Day’s 15th anniversary, women, men and children will express outrage, demand change, strike, dance, and rise to demand an end at last to violence against women.
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 around the world. 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 worldwide.
To learn more, visit www.onebillionrising.org
“When we started V-Day 14 years ago, we had the outrageous idea that we could end violence against women,” said Ensler. “Now, we are both stunned and thrilled to see that this global action is truly escalating and gaining force, with union workers, parliament members, celebrities, and women of all backgrounds coming forward to join the campaign.
"When we come together on February 14, 2013 to demand an end to violence against women and girls it will be a truly global voice that will rise up.”
Everyone is welcome at this event, which is sponsored by Comox Valley Transition Society. Participants are encouraged to wear V-Day colours: black, red, purple and pink.
To learn more about Courtenay’s V-Day One billion Rising dance event, call 250-897-0511 or e-mail mellama17@hotmail.com.
— Comox Valley Transition Society