Millions of people will rise for justice tomorrow for One Billion Rising’s global V-Day events, including a rally in Washington, DC.
One Billion Rising “is a global call to women survivors of violence and those who love them to gather safely in community outside places where they are entitled to justice – courthouses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings, work places, sites of environmental injustice, military courts, embassies, places of worship, homes, or simply public gathering places where women deserve to feel safe but too often do not. It is a call to survivors to break the silence and release their stories – politically, spiritually, outrageously – through art, dance, marches, ritual, song, spoken word, testimonies and whatever way feels right.” Last year, one billion people in 207 countries joined the action.
This year, participants in DC are rising specifically for justice for military sexual assault survivors, for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and for the passage of the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA). Participants will also rise against human trafficking, campus sexual violence, internet bullying, street harassment, impunity for perpetrators of violence against women, and a variety of other issues.
Eve Ensler, the creator of One Billion Rising and author of The Vagina Monologues, kicked off the DC events with Congresswomen Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Gwen Moore (D-WI) at a reception on Tuesday.
The rally will take place at 12 pm tomorrow in front of the Supreme Court and will turn into a march to the Capitol. Weather permitting, Upsetting Rape Culture will display The Monument Quilt – a quilt with thousands of stories of survivors of violence – on the Capitol’s lawn.
