On this day when many of us find ourselves worrying about
getting restaurant reservations and that “just right” gift (or
worrying about not needing reservations and a gift…), playwright
and activist Eve Ensler is asking us all to take a moment to
stand up and advocate for an end to violence against women.
Ensler started V-Day in 1998 after audience members approached
her after every performance of her 1994 play The Vagina
Monologues to tell her about their own experiences of surviving
violence. Inspired by this outpouring of stories, Ensler began
to encourage groups around the world to stage performances of
the Vagina Monologues once a year, allowing the groups to keep
their proceeds to further the cause of preventing violence
against girls and women. Thus V-Day was born, and it has since
raised $90 million to fund violence prevention programs
worldwide. This year marks V-Day’s 15th anniversary, and the
V-Day organizers are looking to make a big statement by staging
the One Billion Rising initiative, a global