By Talia Speaker '18
Staff Writer
“One Billion Rising” is held all around the world, including in New Delhi, India (middle) and Hong Kong (bottom). Photos courtsey of OneBillionRising.com
On Saturday, Feb. 14, students, parents and faculty came together to partake in the second annual 7C One Billion Rising event. A worldwide movement to end violence against women and girls, One Billion Rising has brought many communities from over 200 different countries together, allowing each to rise in the way that is most meaningful to them. For the 7C community, this meant creating a space for acknowledging and reflecting on the history, as well as the current state, of gender based violence, sharing thoughts and experiences, verbalizing why this mattered to each participant and dancing together under the hot February sun.
According to students heading the event, 7C participation was inspired by a talk given on campus last year by Eve Ensler, founder of V-day and One Billing Rising. “After the talk we only had ten days to prepare, but we all just got really excited about making this happen on campus,” shared Hannah Bower, CMC ‘16. “I just think it’s really awesome that the people who came out are really involved and really interested in doing this,” she continued, “I think the next step is getting people who wouldn’t necessarily come to this to get involved to try to engage the whole community.”
One Billion Rising is named for the estimated number of women across the globe that will be beaten or raped during their lifetime. According to Ensler, the movement “is ... an invitation for women and men to rise and dance and resist violence against women across the planet,” with the aim of “creat[ing] this global solidarity and energy that really makes violence against women central stage.” The 7C event this year was not huge, but it was powerful, and if it continues to follow the trend of the worldwide movement, that field will be filled in no time.