FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Susan Celia Swan / Kate Fisher media(at)vday.org; 917-865-6603 (c)
ONE BILLION RISING: REVOLUTION
One Billion Rising Campaign Launches Third Year
Risings Will Focus on Highlighting, Creating and Envisioning New, Brave and Radical Artistic Initiatives to Bring in the New Revolutionary World of Equality, Dignity and Freedom for all Women and Girls
New Video and Images Featuring Global Activists Unveiled
15 September 2014 – Today, One Billion Rising (OBR) launched the third year of the campaign ONE BILLION RISING: REVOLUTION, building upon the first two – One Billion Rising and One Billion Rising for Justice. The last two years we’ve mobilized, engaged, awakened and joined people worldwide to end violence against women. The campaign highlighted the fact that violence against women is a global human issue, not relegated to country or tribe or class or religion, further exposing it as a patriarchal mandate, present in every culture of the world.
At a summit in Rome in Spring 2014, the campaign was envisioned collectively by the One Billion Rising global coordinators. Their shared voices – from regions around the world – came to a unanimous decision to focus on revolution and change as an escalation of our demand to end violence against women and girls once and for all. Now that we have brought the issue front and center, now that we have pushed our justice issues forward, we are not waiting anymore, this is the time for revolution, 2015 is a year for change.
ONE BILLION RISING: REVOLUTION is an energy, a platform, a global movement, a catalyst, a worldwide decision to end violence against women, a demand for justice, a paradigm shift, an invitation, a gathering of the ready, housed everywhere, housed in our hearts, you, us, REVOLUTION.
With the tagline “Drum, Dance & Rise,” launches are taking place today in Dhaka, Delhi, Manila, Sarajevo, Zagreb and Guatemala City. Also, released today is the next video in OBR’s signature series. The nine minute short film entitled ”One Billion Rising for Justice” was directed by Kirthi Nath and features footage shot last year by amateur and professional cinematographers in 200 countries, as well as interviews with OBR global coordinators shot at the Rome summit.
“We’ve danced. We’ve demanded justice. Now we are demanding REVOLUTION. And only a radical shift in consciousness, and braver, bolder and more creative and determined actions can bring about change,” stated Monique Wilson, Director One Billion Rising.
Risings will focus on highlighting, creating and envisioning new, brave and radical artistic initiatives to bring in the new revolutionary world of equality, dignity and freedom for all women and girls. The One Billion Rising website echoes the call for “My revolution…” inviting activists worldwide to post their own video and photo statements, as well as music and artwork. New content featured includes blog posts from the GABRIELA movement in the Philippines and One Billion Rising global coordinators Rada Boric (Croatia), Abha Bhaiya (India) and Karabo Tshikube (South Africa). Eve Ensler has penned a new monologue inspired by the campaign, entitled “My Revolution Lives In This Body.”
The guiding statements of this year’s campaign were developed by the global coordinators. They are:
Change can happen if grassroots movements and marginalized communities are in the lead.
Change can happen if we demand accountability – making sure our justice calls last year are realized. We are going to continue to demand justice, and will continue to highlight the issues surrounding the social injustices inflicted on women, and to keep highlighting where these issues connect. We will continue to challenge institutions, governments, policies, laws – and make these systems, which are responsible for creating situations of poverty and violence, accountable.
Change can happen if we harness our creativity and energy. We will highlight, create and envision new, brave and radical artistic initiatives to bring in the new revolutionary world of equality, dignity and freedom for all women and girls. There is nothing more powerful than art as a tool for transformation.
Change can happen if…WE ACT NOW. AND WE ACT TOGETHER.
Activists and grassroots groups will mobilize utilizing the campaign to raise up their work and move the needle on both global and local activism. Examples this year include Rise for the Raise, Men Rising, Youth Rising, and Campus Rising.
The calendar of events is just beginning, but already the following is planned:
12 September: “Women Rising Against Corruption” OBR Revolution launch – Manila City and satellite events around the Philippines (coordinated by OBR Director Monique Wilson)
15 September: OBR Revolution launches
Dhaka, BANGLADESH (coordinated by OBR Bangladesh coordinator Khushi Kabir)
Himachal, INDIA (coordinated by OBR India Coordinator Abha Bhaiya)
Kathmandu, NEPAL (coordinated by OBR South Asia Coordinator Kamla Bhasin)
Manila, PHILIPPINES (coordinated by GABRIELA Women’s Alliance)
Sarajevo, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (coordinated by V-Day activist Danijela Zivanovic and OBR Balkans Coordinator Rada Boric)
Swaziland (coordinated by OBR Swaziland Coordinator Colani Hlatjwako)
The Gambia (coordinated by OBR Gambia Coordinator Isatou Touray)
21 September:
March for Climate Change with Eve and OBR – New York City, US
24 September:
OBR Tour: “The Vagina Monologues” in Parliament/ OBR Revolution launch Port Au Prince, HAITI
26 September:
OBR Tour: OBR Revolution launch – Miami, FLORIDA
29 September:
OBR Tour: OBR Revolution launch – GUYANA
7 October:
OBR Revolution launch – Guatemala City, GUATEMALA
More to come…
This year’s campaign will leverage the activism on a mass scale that we have witnessed the past two years when ONE BILLION women and men stood up and said no more, we demand justice and an end to violence against women and girls once and for all.
To get involved with V-Day and ONE BILLION RISING Revolution:
BLOG updates from Global Coordinators and activists https://www.onebillionrising.org/blog
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About One Billion Rising
One Billion Rising was the biggest mass action in human history. The campaign, launched on Valentine’s Day 2012, began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. On 14 February 2013, people across the world came together to express their outrage, strike, dance, and RISE in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women. Last year, on 14 February 2014, One Billion Rising for Justice focused on the issue of justice for all survivors of gender violence, and highlighted the impunity that lives at the intersection of poverty, racism, war, the plunder of the environment, capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy. Events took place in 200 countries, where women, men, and youth came together to Rise, Release, and Dance outside of court houses, 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. The campaign was covered widely by media in all corners of world including The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, and many more. www.onebillionrising.org. Visit www.onebillionrising.org
