ABOUT V-DAY
V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women. Over the past 16 years, V-Day activists from more than 140 countries have worked tirelessly on a grassroots level to demand an end to all forms of violence against women and girls.
In the face of resistance, and at the intersection of art and activism, they have come together around life-saving safe houses, productions of award winning playwright Eve
Ensler's The Vagina Monologues and other works curated by V-Day. V-Day organizers have saved lives, raised consciousness, changed laws to protect women and girls, funded rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters (often times these much needed funds kept them from closing), educated their communities, and raised over $100 million in urgently needed funds for groups doing the essential work of ending violence and serving survivors and their families. V-Day's work is grounded in 4 core beliefs: Art has the power to transform thinking and inspire people to act; Lasting social and cultural change is spread by ordinary people doing extraordinary things; Local women best know what their communities need and can become unstoppable leaders; One must look at the intersection of race, class, and gender to understand violence against women.
V-Day's most recent global campaign, ONE BILLION RISING, galvanized over one billion women and men on a global day of action towards ending violence against women and girls. In 2014 activists escalated their efforts by focusing on ending impunity and connecting social justice issues with violence against women. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements and awards and is, one of the Top-Rated organizations on both Charity Navigator and Guidestar. vday.org
To stay informed about events, actions, and opportunities for participation, sign up for V-Mail, the movement's online newsletter at www.vday.org/vmail. And follow us on Twitter @VDay & Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vday
MISSION STATEMENT
-V-Day is an organized response against violence toward women.
-V-Day is a vision: We see a world where women live safely and freely.
-V-Day is a demand: Rape, incest, battery, genital mutilation and sexual slavery must end now.
-V-Day is a spirit: We believe women should spend their lives creating and thriving rather than surviving or recovering from terrible atrocities.
-V-Day is a catalyst: By raising money and consciousness, it will unify and strengthen existing anti-violence efforts. Triggering far-reaching awareness, it will lay the groundwork for new educational, protective, and legislative endeavors throughout the world.
-V-Day is a process: We will work as long as it takes. We will not stop until the violence stops.
-V-Day is a day. We proclaim Valentine's Day as V-Day, to celebrate women and end the violence.
-V-Day is a fierce, wild, unstoppable movement and community. Join us!
EVE ENSLER BIO
Eve Ensler is a Tony award winning playwright, performer and activist. She is the author of international phenomenon, The Vagina Monologues, which won an Obie and has been published in 48 languages and performed in over 140 countries. Eve wrote the New York Times Bestseller, I Am An Emotional Creature: The Secret Life Of Girls Around The World. She then adapted it as a play which ran successfully in South Africa, Paris, Berkeley and Off-Broadway. She is the founder of VDay, the global movement to end violence against women and girls, which has raised over 100 million dollars for grassroots organizations around the world. On V-Day's 15th Anniversary, it launched it's most ambitious campaign One Billion Rising which inspired one billion people in 207 countries to Strike Dance and Rise on Feb 14, 2013 for the freedom, safety and equality of women. With the women of Congo, V-Day opened and supports City of Joy In Bukavu, Congo, a revolutionary center where survivors of gender violence Turn Their Pain to Power. Eve starred in the HBO version of The Vagina Monologues Her play Here was filmed live by Sky Television in London, UK. She co-produced the documentary What I Want My Words to You which won the Freedom of Expression Award at Sundance. Her other plays include Necessary Targets, The Treatment and The Good Body, which she performed on Broadway, followed by a national tour. In 2006, Eve released her book, Insecure At Last: A Political Memoir, and co-edited A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and a Prayer. Her newest critically acclaimed memoir In The Body of the World was just published by Holt.
