One Billion Rising (OBR) hosted an event, Rise with Eve, at Rabindra Sarobor on Saturday to celebrate the presence of feminist, author and founder of the campaign Eve Ensler in Dhaka.
Ensler is best known here for her play ‘The Vagina Monologues’, that different groups have reproduced her at various times. Monique Wilson, also a director of OBR, and civil society activist Khushi Kabir were also present.
The evening consisted of feminist-themed performances and readings- performances from SPaRC, Ghashphoring Choir, Samageet. “It’s a She Thing,’ a song by Monique Wilson, was followed by a reading by Ensler herself.
Ensler recited a poem ‘My Revolution Begins in My Body’ specifically written for Dhaka.
Activist Khushi Kabir said that violence against women will no longer be tolerated.
She also said that according to the statistics- one out of three women has faced sexual harassment or violence at least once in their lives, which works out to about a billion human beings. OBR is the biggest mass action to end violence against women in human history.
Since launching in 2012, OBR has been active in 204 countries with their core goal to end violence against women. They had initiated the Rise for Revolution on February 14, 2015 to change the paradigm, demand accountability, justice and systematic change.
In 2016, the theme of revolution continues with a call to focus on marginalized women and to bring national and international focus to their issues; to bring in new artistic energy; to amplify revolution as a call for system change to end violence against women and girls; to call on people to rise for others, and not just for ourselves.
Eve Ensler’s feminist play ‘The Vagina Monologues’ is considered one of the most important political plays of contemporary times.
Commemorating the play, V-Day is celebrated worldwide on any day between February and April but more commonly on February 14th. The play is performed on V-Day and the benefits go to rape crisis centres and shelters for women, as well as similar resource centres for women.
