Violence against Women – One Billion Rising

Thousands took to the streets of Manila to mark One Billion Rising. Photograph: EPA

Thousands took to the streets of Manila to mark One Billion Rising. Photograph: EPA

14 February 2013: Around the world marking a day of action and dancing to protest against violence against women and girls

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, at least 1,000 acid attack survivors will be taking part in rallies across the country. Monira Rahman of the Acid Survivors’ Foundation said: “It is important to mobilise society in this way to break the silence surrounding violence against women and show that people from all backgrounds have zero tolerance for it. In Bangladesh there is currently a big movement against war criminals and we are linking these huge demonstrations to One Billion Rising, because these men severely violated women and encouraged others to rape during the war.”

Afghanistan

The central message of Eve Ensler’s One Billion Rising campaign – to bring an end to violence against women – is perhaps nowhere more keenly felt than in Afghanistan, writes Golnar Motevalli. She sends us this.

Some 100 women and men marched in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, shouting “enough violence, we want peace” and “death to any enemy of women’s rights”. Almost as many men as women had joined the crowd, which was heavily guarded by Afghan police, wielding riot shields and kalashnikov rifles. The organisers kept the event closed to the public, in order to reduce any risk of antagonists infiltrating the event and stirring unrest. “As an Afghan man, I want to be here to show other Afghan men that violence against women is wrong and it has to end,” 25-year-old Tamim Shamal, an advocacy officer for the Afghan Civil Society Forum said.

Whilst Ensler’s message of defiance against violence resonates strongly, her dictum to dance as a means of protest has not been embraced in a conservative, Muslim country where public images and depictions of women performing is frowned upon. References to dancing have been removed from literature and press releases.

“I admire her feminism, but her work cannot be published here. If you talk about some of the language she uses, we wouldn’t be able to do this in Afghanistan,” Manizha Wafeq, a leading advocate of women’s rights in Afghanistan and one of the main organisers of Thursday’s march said. “It’s not in Afghan culture to sing and dance. But we will walk instead. For us, walking in the street is in itself an issue of security,” said Nasima Omari, a 26-year-old executive member of the Afghan Women’s Network.

Australia

Kira Cochrane has been speaking to Karen Pickering a feminist activist in Melbourne, who was enjoying a “very big beer” after taking part in a rising in Federation Square in the Australian city.

It’s a beautiful day there she says, 30 degrees, and the event overlapped with a strike by teachers in Victoria, so there were a lot of union people at the event – and a lot of people, generally, dressed in red, the colour worn in solidarity with the teachers. She estimates a turnout of a couple of thousand, including activists, but also families, people of every age, “just dancing, shaking their money makers, like a gorgeous outdoor festival.” The event’s MC started by introducing a video of prime minister Julia Gillard’s message of support, then dancers, choreographers and hip hop teachers gathered on stage, the little kids in the crowd went to the front, and everyone tried to do the official dance. “But of course it was really hard,” says Pickering, laughing, “so we waved our hands in the air, and shook it a little bit.” She says Melbourne has a strong feminist community; it hosted one of the biggest Slutwalk events in the world, and the feminist events she organises each month get a good turnout. Last year, following the disappearance and death of Australian Broadcasting Corporation employee Jill Meagher – a man has been charged with her rape and murder – 30,000 people marched through the city to highlight the problem of violence against women. “I think Melbourne’s a city where people come together in public space, and this feminist moment that’s happening is definitely really visible,” says Pickering. Rarely more so than today.

Philippines

There are reports that police in Manila in the Philippines have closed off 15 blocks for One Billion Rising. There’s a good picture of schoolgirl protestors here

Mexico

One Billion Rising was prompted by the fact that one in three women will suffer violence at some point in their lives and there are constant reminders of this around the globe. News from Mexico this morning where six men have admitted raping Spanish tourists staying in a beach house on the outskirts of Acapulco. Those arrested ranged in age from 16 to 30. Their families have protested their innocence. Another eight men were arrested in connection with a separate gang rape in November 2012.

India

Maseeh Rahman has already written in as tens of thousands of women came out on the streets across India this morning to participate in the One Billion Rising campaign, pointing out the significance of the action there, with the day’s news highlighting several instances of the challenges faced by Indian women:

• The revelation by musician Anoushka Shankar, daughter of the legendary sitarist Ravi Shankar, of having been sexually abused as a child at the hands of a man her parents trusted. • A survey in the central Indian city of Nagpur showing that the gender ratio in families where one or both parents were doctors was dramatically lower than the national average, suggesting that educated medical professionals meant to protect the girl child were themselves practising female foeticide. • A letter from Delhi’s chief minister to the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, accusing the Delhi police of failing to improve security for women on the streets of the national capital despite the popular upsurge following last December’s horrific gang rape of a physiotherapist on a Delhi bus. • The demeaning response of a union minister when asked by a woman TV reporter about the accusation against a prominent politician from the ruling party in a gang rape case in Kerala. According to news reports, the minister later apologised, but the ruling Congress party continues to back its leader despite the rape victim’s charge.

“India has a very, very high rate of violence against women, both at home and outside,” said classical vocalist Vidya Shah, who will perform this evening on Parliament Street. “Anoushka Shankar’s trauma as a child epitomises how difficult it is being a woman in India, how the abuse and oppression can be so subtle and silent. It is very brave of her to speak out.” By now hundreds of men, women and children have already danced, shouted and joined in some form of event to mark One Billion Rising, a mass day of action to end violence against women. As Europe wakes up there have already been dances, mass rallies and marches in India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Australia and, by the end of today, many more across Africa, the Middle East and the Americas will have joined them. Sites such as Twitter and Facebook are full of homemade and star-produced videos to raise awareness about the fact that one in three women suffer violence at some time in their lives, according to UN statistics. So far, there are events planned in every single one of the 192 states recognised by the United Nations and then some. Just pick a destination and look at what’s happening here. Hundreds of events are planned in India, including several flashmobs in Delhi, where crowds protested in part against the appalling gang rape and murder of a student trying to get home, while in the UK more campaigners committed to taking part to support victims of abuse after the suicide of Frances Andrade. As an idea, One Billion Rising appears to have united long-term campaigners with a younger generation inspired by the power of social media and a desire for change. Yet the very idea to dance and shout as a way of campaigning against violence that ranges from female genital mutilation to rape in war to domestic violence to sexual slavery seems so outlandish that many have criticised Eve Ensler, the writer of the Vagina Monologues and activist behind this global campaign, for suggesting it. There have been detractors who believe an organisation that encourages Hollywood A-listers to make videos such as the one in which Jane Fonda spoke of her mother’s child abuse aged 8 has little to say about the suffering of women in places like Afghanistan. Yet, the reaction in parts of the world where the need to raise awareness about violence is perhaps greatest has been phenomenal, from the millions expected to take to the streets in Bangladesh to a march on parliament in Afghanistan. Admittedly, the latter happened without mentioning Ensler, partly because her use of the word “vagina” is so frowned upon that even reporters fear reprisals for its use. Ensler, meanwhile, has ignored those who scoff at her idea of “a global patriarchal pandemic’, so far raising more than $90m for rape crisis centres including the City of Joy in Congo, where she plans to spend today. “It is something that has gone across class, social group and religion,” she told the Guardian about One Billion Rising, which marks the 15th anniversary of something she calls V-Day. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my lifetime.” And all this on a day usually associated with the a few chocolates and flowers in the west. Jackie Clune, singer and comedian, said: “What a brilliant day she has chosen: Valentine’s Day, when the world is marking a romantic idea of femininity that has got nothing to do with reality for many women.” It would be good to think that all this action will lead to immediate change, but no one is expecting that. The UN threw its support behind the cause earlier this week and in the UK and US there are attempts to link it to legislative action but for now we want to see whether one billion people really will rise against violence. We hope a live blog will be able to give some sense of the different movements around the world.

Here are some of the events we’ll be covering today

• In India, there has been an enormous amount of organising and action to end sexual violence in New Delhi since a horrific gang rape in the city a few months ago. Multiple flashmobs have been planned for One Billion Rising, and we hope to have pictures and video from the campaigners. Their message is that “Delhi Rising intends to serve as a reminder: we are a part of the problem if we choose to remain passive.” • Some 200 women are marching on Afghanistan’s parliament, shouting slogans in support of a worldwide campaign decrying violence against women in the former Taliban-ruled country. They are due to arrive at parliament by around 11.30am local time. • In Bangladesh supporters of One Billion Rising will be wearing red all day, forming human chains across Dhaka, the capital city, from 7am, ending with a concert with some of the country’s biggest stars in the evening. There will be 380 events over all 64 districts. • In Australia, where prime minister Julia Gillard has pledged her support, there were plans for women to rise on beaches, in pools and at wilderness retreats everywhere from Brisbane, to Sydney, to Melbourne. We’ll be catching up this morning with some of the events that have already taken place – including the rising that was planned for the steps of Parliament House in Adelaide. • In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a rising has been planned by the Studio Samuel Foundation, for girls from the Kebele Township and the Kechene government orphanage. The girls will be watching films on domestic violence, child marriage and empowerment, and discussing what change they’d like to see in the world. We hope to feature their answers later in the day. • Egypt’s new constitution does not enshrine the rights of women, while a quota for women in parliament has been rescinded, meaning that just 2% of MPs elected in 2012 were female. Street harassment is also rife – not just in Tahrir Square, but across the country. There are five One Billion Rising events taking place, including a play about female genital mutilation in north-east Cairo, a rally in the city centre, and a dance on the shores of the Red Sea. • In Mogadishu, Somalia, organisers are planning the country’s first ever flashmob for One Billion Rising. • In the UK there are more than 200 events planned, from 1,000 people on the Scottish borders and a mini-rising for Scouts and Brownies to a 24-hour rising in virtual world Second Life. In London a flashmob on Parliament Square is planned for 11am GMT with the release of balloons for victims followed by a vote in parliament on changing sex education in schools due to finish at 3.30pm. After that there will be an event at London’s Southbank Centre with keynote speeches by artistic director Jude Kelly and the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper. We’ll also be hearing throughout the day from Labour MP Stella Creasy, who has been involved in many of these events. • In the Democratic Republic of Congo there will be an all-day celebration at the City of Joy, a centre for survivors of rape in Bikavu set up by Eve Ensler. • In the US, there are more than 40 events planned in New York alone – including flashmobs on the Staten Island ferry and a march across the Brooklyn bridge. In Hollywood Jane Fonda is getting involved at 10am at the Sal Guarriello Memorial Park with dancers from Flash Mob America will lead a special One Billion Rising dance, choreographed by actress and choreographer Debbie Allen. Source: Guardian

News, Events & Resources: There is one universal truth, applicable to all countries, cultures and communities: violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable, never tolerable. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon ‘UNiTE to End Violence against Women’ campaign is managed by the UN Women on behalf of the System and has a very straightforward vision: a world free from violence against women and girls. The campaign believes that raising public awareness worldwide, increasing political will and resources for preventing and ending all forms of violence against women and girls in all parts of the world – is the way forward. Our focus is specifically placed on national laws, action plans, data collection, sexual violence in conflict, and social mobilization. Visit for more information on the campaign and actions at: ‘UNiTE to End Violence against Women’

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