V-Day: Valentines Day One Billion Rising Celebration Marks Victory Over Rape

V-Day on Valentines Day is a One Billion Rising celebration that raises awareness of violence toward women. The V in V-Day, One Billion Rising says, stands for Victory, Valentine, and Vagina.

V-Day, according to its website, promotes “creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations” and is meant to generate “broader attention to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation and sex slavery.”

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, rape and abortion are still two hot topics in American politics because of the crazy history underlying the issues. A 1996 study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology claims the number of pregnancies from rape is as high as five percent based upon surveys. It’s even claimed by RAINN.org that “1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.” There is also the common claim that one in four female college students are raped and 90 percent of rapes go unreported. Some even claim that rape results in more pregnancies than normal sex.

Around the world, things are even worse. The gang rapes of women in India have made the news. Fortunately, awareness has led to a crackdown on such horrible behavior. This is one of the goals of V-Day and One Billion Rising, but they’re using dancing to do this.

According to TheSpec.com, Erin Crickett, a co-ordinator with the Sexual Assault Centre of Hamilton and Area (SACHA), says that One Billion Rising is themed on dancing to show women’s resiliency:

“It is exciting to have a new way to talk about violence. We have a lot to struggle against. We (also) have a lot of strengths and a lot to celebrate. We’re all doing this together and showing how powerful this movement against violence is.”

What are you doing to celebrate V-Day as hosted by One Billion Rising?