About The Event
Uddomey Uttoroney Shotokoti (One Billion Rising), an alliance of rights groups, and activists, is set to mobilise women and men across the country to rise up, walk out and demand an end to violence against women on Friday (February 14, 2014) to mark the global ‘One Billion Rising for Justice (OBR4J)’ campaign being observed.
In Bangladesh, women and men will rise starting from 2 pm in various locations all over Dhaka city as well as in all 66 districts of the country. In Dhaka, the event will take place at the High Court gate. We call upon people from all walks of life to form mass gathering and express solidarity. We encourage all to wear red and hoist a red cloth in front of each house, office, factory and other establishments.
In addition to the nationwide programme which will gather communities and demand justice, Dhaka as the central location will depict three cases of injustice (Kolpona Chakma, Monirampur rape case and Nadia Sharmeen) in the form of monologues and testimony. The OBR declaration demanding justice for such cases will be read out at the event. To stand in solidarity with the rest of the world, a flash mob will take place before and after the event on the 14th February at the same location.
As part of the One Billion Rising (OBR) campaign’s global call for action on ending violence against woman, last year on February 14, 2013, South Asia rose with the world. In Bangladesh approximately 3 million men and women were mobilized on the streets with the support from over 400 organizations joining over 206 countries across the world.
ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE (OBR4J) is a global call to women survivors of violence and those who love them to gather safely near places where they are entitled to justice --‐ court houses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings, work places, 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.
In the lead up to 14 February, OBR Bangladesh has been implementing a series of activities to create awareness about violence against women and the conditions that not only allow but make inevitable such violations of women to continue unabated. We have over 300 organizations who are actively participating in and supporting the OBR movement.
The objective of this widespread protest across Bangladesh is to demand justice on the continued violence against women. The reason for choosing Valentine’s Day is because there is a need to bring about a change in the commercialised nature of the day and establish it to be about loving and respecting women. ‘We want everyone to vow on this day that they won’t just give flowers to the women in their lives, but also ensure that they are never subjected to violence and this culture of impunity comes to an end. It has been too long, and it is time to demand justice on violence against woman,” said OBR Coordinator for Bangladesh, Khushi Kabir, explaining the reasons for choosing February 14 as the day of RISING for JUSTICE.
The women’s rights movement in Bangladesh has been moving ahead with numerous recent achievements and this movement aims to further strengthen the actions so that more survivors and their families speak up and that they are not denied justice.
February 14 is not an end, but rather a starting point and a step forward for future discussions and action on violence against women and the overall justice system. OBR member organisations will use this platform to consolidate and coordinate their efforts where possible and challenge discriminatory practices and laws through awareness-raising activities, training, outreach, advocacy etc.
About The Organization
ONE BILLION RISING Bangladesh
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