The campaign is a global movement to end violence against women and girls.
Texas Tech University faculty, staff and students will join with activists around the world Friday (Feb. 12) for One Billion Rising (OBR), the biggest mass action to end violence against women and girls in human history. Members of the Texas Tech student organization Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA) have invited the Lubbock community to join Texas Tech at 12:30 p.m. at Memorial Circle to rise up together in support for women and girls who are victims of violence.
One Billion Rising began on Valentine's Day in 2012 as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that one in three women around the world will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at seven billion, this adds up to more than one billion women and girls.
“Ask any woman you know, and chances are, she can tell you a detailed story of a time rape culture affected her personally,” said Gaby Wohead, president of Texas Tech's FMLA. “Unfortunately, one out of three of those stories involve actual physical beatings and/or rape. This absolutely has to stop. We as students must take matters into our own hands and do everything in our power to raise awareness. That's what One Billion Rising is all about to me and Texas Tech's FMLA as an organization. Empowering events like these are where you can truly witness change begin to take place.”
For the event, everyone will dress in white as well as their favorite colors to show solidarity with those affected across the world. The events of the afternoon (expected to last 30 minutes) will include readings of Eve Ensler's latest monologue “Rising,” “I Am an Emotional Creature” and “The Man Prayer.” A dance performance titled “Break the Chain” will follow the readings of the monologues. Dancers with Soul, another Texas Tech student organization, will be part of the performance.
At the end of the event, a solidarity circle will be formed with participants locking arms for a moment of silence to take a stand against violence against women and girls.
To learn more about OBR, visit its website or Texas Tech's Women's Studies Programs webpage.