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By Ashley Berg
By Ashley Berg
Valentine. Victory. Vagina.
If you are familiar with Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues,” you would know that these three words aren’t degrading women, but are encouraging women to stand strong against the never-ending violence against them and promoting awareness to both men and women to recognize and work towards a solution to this major problem around the world. V-Day is an international organization to help end violence against women.
V-Day began in 1998 as the need grew to stop genital mutilation, rape, and violence against women. V-Day’s Web site, http://www.vday.org, explains what V-Day is about: “V-Day demands that the violence must end. It proclaims Valentine’s Day as V-Day until the violence stops. When all women live in safety, no longer fearing violence or the threat of violence, then V-Day will be known as Victory Over Violence Day.”
Additionally, V-Day began a college campaign for students to gain a tangible understanding of this problem by performing excerpts from “The Vagina Monologues” to raise money for local organizations as well as the V-Day organization.
RCC student Irene Sanchez ran as organizer and director last year, and will again this year, for V-Day, hoping more students will want to take action against violence this year.
“We rose nearly $1600 for Alternatives to Domestic Violence’s new south west Riverside County shelter called Casa de Paz. We also rose $200 for V-Day’s annual international spotlight for the women of Juarez, as well as $200 for RCC Rape Awareness Month Events,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez adds that this year’s proceeds will help the Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center and Alternatives to Domestic Violence as well as the V-Day “Spotlight on the Women of Iraq” and events for RCC students.
“I would like more students to be involved in all of this because I want to ensure this continues-we need people to volunteer with planning specially those who will be at RCC next year,” Sanchez said.
Students not involved in campus activities at RCC may take this opportunity to not only participate in this event, but to gain a better understanding of this global problem. Sanchez is trying to make V-Day its own club on campus, awaiting approval from Senate.
“V-Day is working for a cause towards a goal and that is why it is so important-we must not stop our involvement with just V-Day,” proclaims Sanchez.
A V-Day meeting will be held Nov. 5, in A.G. Paul Quadrangle 226A from 11AM-1PM.
