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Volume CXXXIII, Number 5 |
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V-Day group helps prevent violence against women
ALISON MCCONNELL
ORIENT STAFF
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| V-Day leaders Becky Bogdanovitch '04 and Barbara Condliffe (courtesy of Becky Bogdanovitch) |
Barbara Condliffe: V-Day is a global movement to prevent violence against women and girls. As a national organization, V-Day raises money for existing anti-violence organizations and raises awareness of the issues surrounding violence against women. V-Day raises money primarily through productions of Eve Ensler's Obie Award-winning play, "The Vagina Monologues."
V-Day has been in existence for six years now and has raised over $14 million dollars for anti-violence organizations around the world. In addition to the production, V-Day supports many awareness and activist initiatives such as a rape-free zone initiative, a Vagina Warriors initiative, a global campaign with a spotlight on missing and murdered women in Juarez Mexico, The Afghanistan is Everywhere initiative, and the one percent campaign.
People should visit www.vday.org for more information on the national organization. V-Day also supports a college campaign that brings the movement to college campuses.
Bowdoin is one of 400 schools that make up the college campaign. The Bowdoin V-Day movement has been growing since the 2002 production and its now in its third consecutive year. Each year all of our proceeds from V-Day events have gone to Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine (SASSMM) and 10 percent have gone to different global initiatives. In the past two years we have met our fundraising goal of $5,000 and this year we are raising that goal to $6,000.
The Orient: Who participates in V-Day at Bowdoin?
Barbara Condliffe: Lots of people, which is so exciting! Issues relating to violence against women are personal to many people and affect us all in different ways. Sexual assault is about exerting power over another person and often leaves a survivor feeling speechless, powerless, and ashamed.
I have found that working on V-Day is incredibly empowering and liberating. We can all learn about the ways in which violence against women affects our lives and work from that pain toward a vision for a world without violence. Although we often must speak of harsh realities, V-Day is primarily about celebration of women and their bodies, and about using our creative energy to create social change. It's a powerful experience.
Kristin Pollock '04 and I are chairing V-Day this year and will be directing "The Vagina Monologues." We also have a core group of 12 dedicated and fabulous individuals who agreed to lead various V-Day initiatives. In addition, there are lots of people willing to help out in whatever way they can.
We are trying to work with other campus groups like BWA, Safe Space, Warriors, and Global Help in places that our activities overlap. Being a part of V-Day does not require anything aside from concern about issues of violence against women and commitment to creating a world without violence. Anyone can contact Kristin or I about getting involved at any time.
The Orient: What is the organization aiming to achieve at Bowdoin in an overall sense? What issues are you addressing?
Barbara Condliffe: We want to raise awareness about women's issues and push all of us to create a world in which women are free and safe to explore their creative energies. In keeping with the national organization, our vision is a global one. This year, V-Day is focusing on raising awareness and money for the hundreds of missing and murdered women in Juarez, Mexico. We are raising awareness in the Bowdoin and Brunswick communities through activities like tabling, posters, safety discussions, speak-outs, outreaches with youth, and a production of "The Vagina Monologues" in February.
Affirming women's strength and celebrating survivors of sexual assault and their allies are other goals of V-Day 2004. On Love Your Body Day-October 15-we will be spreading positive images of Bowdoin women around campus and encouraging people to recognize what they love about their bodies. We will host an art show and a writing workshop next semester to allow people to express how they feel about women's issues. A Vagina Warriors initiative will recognize and celebrate community members who are working to end violence against women. Finally, we will hold fundraising events and publicity campaigns throughout the year.
Please contact us to get involved and share any ideas you might have
about other initiatives.
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