This rising event is part of "ЕДИН МИЛИАРД СЕ ИЗПРАВЯТ ЗА СПРАВЕДЛИВОСТ - БЪЛГАРИЯ | ONE BILLION RISING BULGARIA" and is organized by the Society for Justice Foundation – Bulgaria and Theatre 199 with the support of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, Animus Association, the Bulgarian Red Cross, the Council of Refugee Women, the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation and other leading Bulgarian women’s rights, human rights and humanitarian organizations. (More information about the participating organizations and speakers will come soon). Събитието е част от българската инициатива „ ЕДИН МИЛИАРД СЕ ИЗПРАВЯТ ЗА СПРАВЕДЛИВОСТ - БЪЛГАРИЯ :: ONE BILLION RISING BULGARIA“ и е организирано от Фондация „Общество за справедливост“ съвместно с Театър 199. Инициативата е подкрепена от водещи български женски, правозащитни и хуманитарни организации като Фондация “Асоциация Анимус”, Български Хелсинкски Комитет, Български Червен Кръст, Съвет на Жените Бежанки, Български Център за Джендър Изследвания и други (пълният списък с имената на участващите и подкрепящи събитието организации ще бъде обявен тук допълнително).

Mariana Katzarova is a human rights advocate and a journalist. She is an international expert on human rights and combating human trafficking and violence against women. Mariana has been involved with V-Day since 2000, when she helped bring the “Vagina Monologues” to her home country, Bulgaria, to be performed for the first time at Theatre 199 in Sofia. The Bulgarian government at the time threatened to close down the performance of the “Monologues” for “use of obscene language”. In 2001, Mariana organized the first V-Day in Bulgaria, which brought together in Sofia women activists from all Balkan countries, as well as Eve Ensler, who came to support the play and the Bulgarian activists. The “Vagina Monologues” in Bulgaria continued to be performed and became one of the most admired theatre shows in the country. Mariana also took part in helping to organize the V-Day events in Brussels and Sarajevo, as well as participated in a number of V-Day actions around the world, such as in Madison Square Garden in New York, in Juarez, Mexico, in London and in New Orleans, among others. Most recently, Mariana Katzarova was the Senior Adviser on Anti-Trafficking Issues at the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw. Prior to joining the OSCE in February 2011, Mariana was the Adviser on Trafficking to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. Mariana Katzarova founded RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in WAR) in 2006, after working as a journalist and human rights advocate in the war zones of Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya, including 10 years as the Russia Researcher for Amnesty International. RAW in WAR (www.rawinwar.org) presents the annual Anna Politkovskaya Award for women human rights defenders from war and conflict zones in the world. Mariana is also the founder of Society for Justice Foundation in Bulgaria and a founder of the first Bulgarian independent newspaper in 1989, called “Democracy".