One Billion Rising Around the World

On February 14, 2013, people from every country of the world will come together to bring awareness to the problem of violence against women and girls. One out of every three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime, meaning well over one billion women will be impacted. One Billion Rising is a campaign to highlight this problem and bring an end to it. All over the world, women and men will come together to dance in protest on Valentine's Day, 2013.

Please join us for this global event. Strike! Dance! Rise!

(One Billion Rising logo provided by One Billion Rising)

Dance flash mobs around the world to end violence

One Billion Rising (OBR) will be the largest day of action in the history of V-Day, a global activist movement created to end violence against women and girls. The organization celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.

V-Day was started by playwright Eve Ensler. "When we started V-Day 14 years ago, we had the outrageous idea that we could end violence against women," Ensler says. "Now, we are both stunned and thrilled to see that this global action is truly escalating and gaining force, with union workers, parliament members, celebrities, and women of all backgrounds coming forward to join the campaign. When we come together on February 14, 2013 to demand an end to violence against women and girls it will be a truly global voice that will rise up," according to a press release from the OBR website.

At least one OBR event is currently planned in every country of the world. Most will be dance mobs.

V-Day chose dance as the medium for the message because, "Dancing insists we take up space. It has no set direction but we go there together. It's dangerous, joyous, sexual, holy, disruptive. It breaks the rules. It can happen anywhere at anytime with anyone and everyone. It's free. No corporation can control it. It joins us and pushes us to go further. It's contagious and it spreads quickly. It's of the body. It's transcendent," says the One Billion Rising website.

Participants in most countries will be dancing to "Break the Chain," a song written by Tena Clark with music by Tena Clark and Tim Heintz, and a special choreography created by Debbie Allen. Some countries, however, will be dancing to tunes in their own language.

All of them, however, will be spreading the same message of ending violence against women and girls.

(Image credit: Kmiragaya | Dreamstime.com)

Eve Ensler is the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist who started V-Day with the goal of ending violence against women and girls. Her best known play, "The Vagina Monologues," earned her the Obie Award in 1996 for 'Best New Play' and has since been performed in over 140 countries and translated into 48 languages. Annual productions of the play raise funds and awareness for V-Day. So far, the organization has raised more than $80 million, educated millions about the issue of violence against women, funded anti-violence programs, reopened shelters and funded safe houses throughout the world, according to Wikipedia.

A week before Valentine's Day 2013, Eve Ensler made the following message for everyone involved in the massive One Billion Rising effort.

Break the Chain" is the official "anthem" of One Billion Rising and will be the dance performed around the world in most countries. Written by Tena Clark, and sung by V-Girl activists and singers from New York, the song encourages everyone to:

Dance cause I love

Dance cause I dream

Dance cause I've had enough

Dance to stop the screams

Dance to break the rules

Dance to stop the pain

Dance to turn it upside down

Its time to break the chain

Here are wonderful examples of dancers around the world performing the "Break the Chain" choreography created by Debbie Allen. The final video features Tena Clark's song with different choreography.

Click any video thumbnail to watch dancers rising around the world.

If you want to join a One Billion Rising event, this instructional video can help you learn the choreography.

Why I'm rising

I'm not a dancer. I can't do the Gangnam Style dance, and I never learned the Macarena. The last time I actually attempted to learn an actual dance routine was in my 8th grade gym class, and my less-than-inspiring abilities prompted my gym teacher to note on my report card that even though the dance was hard for me, at least I tried. That was all she could say about my dance skills - I tried.

But when I heard about One Billion Rising, I knew I would try harder. I will do whatever it takes to get my two left feet going in the same direction on February 14.

I am rising because I know too many women who have been raped. I am rising because I know too many women who have been beaten. I am rising because I know too many women who have been hurt.

I know women who have been raped by a father, stepfather, uncle or grandfather... women who have been date raped... a woman who was raped at knifepoint by an intruder who broke into her ground-level apartment... a woman who was raped by a school principal... a woman who was drugged at a bar, kidnapped, beaten, gang raped, and barely escaped with her life.

I have seen these women I love struggle to regain their lives, and some have come close to losing the fight. One was unconscious in the hospital for more than a day after she attempted to kill herself by overdosing. I don't think she ever would have been in that place of self-hatred if she hadn't been raped. It engulfed her like a black plague.

And in all but one of these cases, the perpetrator was never arrested or tried. Most of the incidents weren't even reported because the women were afraid to tell anyone for a very long time.

We need a world in which women are not afraid of being shamed and ridiculed for telling the truth. We need a wold in which men (or the beasts that masquerade as real men) are held accountable for their crimes. We need a world in which all people are safe from harm.

So on February 14, 2013, my two left feet and I will be rising at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Wherever you are in the world, I hope you will join us!

(Image of California State Capitol building by Lisa Howard)

Do you think a worldwide dance flash mob will help raise awareness of violence against women and girls?

Information and resources to use

One Billion Rising is a one-day event that can help raise awareness about violence against women and girls, but it is just a beginning. For the event to have maximum impact, people need to educate themselves and learn what else they can do to help change laws, attitudes and behavior.

These pages have been written by various authors who work on Squidoo and have more resources for you.

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