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, A Memory, A
Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer, and screenings of V-Day's documentary
Until The Violence Stops, to raise awareness and funds for anti-violence
groups within their own communities. 2009 V-Day events had the option
to introduce a new V-Day theatrical event, Any One Of Us: Words From
Prison, which reveals the connection between women in prison and the
violence that often brings them there. This new event brings forth raw
voices of fierceness and honesty written by women from prisons across
the nation and performed by local women. In 2010, over 4200 V-Day
benefit events took place produced 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; Love Your Tree; the June 2006
two-week festival of theater, spoken word, performance and community
events called UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS: NYC which welcomed 2,000 runners
in Prospect Park running to demand an end to violence, witnessed 50
actresses and over 100 writers contributing their genius, time and
talent to sold out events, and reached millions through media and a
citywide subway and bus campaign. In 2008, V-Day celebrated its 10-year
anniversary at V TO THE TENTH at the New Orleans Arena and Louisiana
Superdome. V TO THE TENTH featured two days of speakers, art,
performance for all and makeovers, massage, medical testing and healing
circles, and yoga for the women of the Gulf South Region. The event was
attended by over 30,000 women and men and reached millions of people all
over the word, raising over $700,000 for local efforts in New Orleans
to end violence against women and girls.
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 program 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 130 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 2001,
V-Day was named one of Worth Magazine's "100 Best Charities" and in 2006
one of Marie Claire Magazine's Top Ten Charities. In ten years, the
V-Day movement has raised over $70 million.
The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.
EVE ENSLER, playwright, performer, and activist, is the author of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, translated into over 45 languages and performed in over 130 countries. Ms. Ensler has devoted her life to stopping violence, envisioning a planet in which women and girls will be free to thrive, rather than merely survive. THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES is based on Ensler's interviews with more than 200 women. With humor and grace the piece celebrates women’s' sexuality and strength. Today, V-Day is a global movement that supports anti-violence organizations throughout the world, helping them to continue and expand their core work on the ground, while drawing public attention to the larger fight to stop worldwide violence against women and girls. V-Day exists for no other reason than to stop violence against women. In ten years, the V-Day movement has raised over $70 million. V-Day was named one of Worth magazine's "100 Best Charities" in 2001 and Marie Claire’s "Top Ten Charities" in 2006.