Feature 9d

Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource, Power to the Women and Girls of Democratic Republic of Congo

V Day-Until The Violence Stops

Host a 2009 V-Day event in your College, Community or High School!

About V-Day

V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery.

Through V-Day campaigns, local volunteers and college students produce annual benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues to raise awareness and funds for anti-violence groups within their own communities. In 2006, over 2700 V-Day benefit events took place by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls.

Performance is just the beginning. V-Day stages large-scale benefits and produces innovative gatherings, films and campaigns to educate and change social attitudes towards violence against women including the documentary Until the Violence Stops; community briefings on the missing and murdered women of Juárez, Mexico; the December 2003 V-Day delegation trip to Israel, Palestine, Egypt and Jordan; the Afghan Women's Summit; the March 2004 delegation to India; the Stop Rape Contest, the Indian Country Project, and Love Your Tree.

In Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, V-Day commits ongoing support to build movements and anti-violence networks. Working with local organizations, V-Day provided hard-won funding that helped open the first shelters for women in Egypt and Iraq, sponsored annual workshops and three national campaigns in Afghanistan, convened the "Confronting Violence" conference of South Asian women leaders, and donated satellite-phones to Afghan women to keep lines of communication open and action plans moving forward. Through the Karama progam based out of Cairo, V-Day works in-depth to build networks ending violence against women and girls in Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

The V-Day movement is growing at a rapid pace throughout the world, in 81 countries from Europe to Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, and all of North America. V-Day, a non-profit corporation, distributes funds to grassroots, national and international organizations and programs that work to stop violence against women and girls. In its first year of incorporation (2001), V-Day was named one of Worth Magazine's "100 Best Charities." In eight years, the V-Day movement has raised over 30 million.

The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina

2009 will be V-Day's biggest year to date with thousands of V-Day benefit productions taking place all over the world between January 1st and March 31st!

These events, produced locally by volunteer organizers, will raise funds and awareness for local beneficiaries who are working to end violence against women and girls.

V-Day productions will have the option to feature three different benefit events: performances of The Vagina Monologues; staged readings of V-Day's A Memory, A Monologue A Rant and A Prayer and screenings of V-Day's documentary Until The Violence Stops.

In 2009, V-Day's Spotlight Campaign will highlight the atrocities being committed against the women and girls of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

In the DRC, Rape is used as a weapon of war to torture and humiliate women and girls. This systemic sexual violence and femicide not only destroys women and young girls but also entire families and communities. Survivors often suffer in silence, fearing stigma and ostracism. In addition to the severe psychological impact, many survivors are left with genital lesions, traumatic fistulae and other physical wounds, as well as unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Local response to support survivors is hindered by a lack of resources. There is near total impunity for these crimes as perpetrators almost always walk free.

In 2009, V-Day and UNICEF, together with UN and NGO partners, are working with V-Day organizers around the world to make a difference. DRC has been called the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and the widest interstate war in modern African history. Fueled by the exploitation of the country's rich natural resources by foreign and local armies and private enterprises, the war has directly affected the lives of 50 million Congolese. Since 1996, this conflict has caused more deaths than any war since World War II, either as a direct result of fighting or due to disease and malnutrition. Five million people have lost their lives as a result of the conflict. With your help, the women and children who bear the burden of this war can reclaim a life of safety and dignity.

For more information on the Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource, Power To The Women And Girls Of The Democratic Republic Of Congo Campaign, please visit www.vday.org/drcongo

Bring V-Day to your city, your community, your college, your university or your high school.

Join us. Help stop the Violence!

2009 event registration will begin in the fall of 2008. Please sign up for V-Day's newsletter, V-Mail to receive updates on the launch of the 2009 V-Season.

Eve Ensler and Noella (It is not permitted to show the faces of young girls)

Eve Ensler and Noella