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Globally,
at least ONE IN THREE women and girls have been beaten or
sexually abused in her lifetime (UN 2000)
Somewhere in America a woman is battered, ususally by her
intimate partner every 15 seconds (UN2000)
1 in 4 College women experience completed or attempted rape
during their college years (Fisher 2000)
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| Eve Ensler wrote the play “The Vagina
Monologues” in the early 1990s. After every performance
she was greeted by grateful women who wanted to share their
vagina’s monologue too. Unfortunately, many of these
stories were painful, marked by violence and rape. As a result,
in 1998, Ms. Ensler launched Victory over Violence against
Women Day to take place on Valentine’s Day. Every year
on V-Day, hundreds of venues throughout the world stage benefit
productions of the Vagina Monologues to raise awareness of
and money for local women’s organizations. The response
has been phenomenal, with each year bringing an increased
number of participants and funds raised. The movement will
not be complete “Until the Violence Ends.” This
year's V-Day will shine a spotlight on the over 300 women
and girls who have gone “missing” in Juarez, Mexico
where no arrests have been made in this case. The two other
themes for the year are “V is for Vote” (there
will be voter registration at every performance), and “Vagina
Warriors”- honoring women in the community who are really
going out and making a difference in their corner of the planet.
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| On the afternoon of March 27, 2004, hundreds of women wearing
red and pink scarves, will converge on the National Mall in Washington
DC to form a giant, living, heart-shaped, vaginal formation, inside
which Eve Ensler’s show “The Vagina Monologues”
will take place. People will literally be watching “The Vagina
Monologues” inside this living yonic monument to women. The
idea is that the Mall is dominated by monuments to men, so this
will be a monument to and in celebration of women. At dusk, the
final monologue will be read- it is a description of birth. At this
point, an older member of the “living vagina” will light
a candle and pass the flame to the youngest member and so on until
the entire formation will be illuminated. We also hope to project
a list of “vagina warriors” -women, both dead and living,
who deserve recognition for their accomplishments in making this
world a better place for all its inhabitants. |
| Since this show will be taking place in a national park, we cannot
charge admission. But there are a number of ways you can help out
to raise awareness of and funds for our coalition of beneficiaries.
The baseline contribution to be in the formation is $20. We will
also be having a program in which all our sponsors will be thanked.
The students of the Living Vagina are contributors of $35 +, Friends
of the Living Vagina $50+, Special Friends of the Living Vagina
$100+, Vagina Rockers $500+ and Vagina Warriors are $1,000+. If
you would like more information on becoming a corporate sponsor,
or purchaising space in our program, please contact Claire -claire@thelivingvagina.com,
or you can send your donation to:
The Washington Peace Center
1426 9th St. NW, Suite 306
Washington D.C. 20001
- Nominate your own Vagina Warrior- send Caryn an email with
your warrrior’s name and why she (or he) is your Vagina
Warrior to caryn@thelivingvagina.com.
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