Happy V-Day!

V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. Today is the 15th annual V-Day, and this year the 1 Billion Rising campaign will raise awareness all over the world about violence against women.

Why 1 Billion Rising?

Because today, a billion women – one out of every three women on the planet – will be raped or beaten in their lifetime. In the US, every 2 minutes one woman is assaulted, and every 9 minutes one woman is beaten. Also, fyi, the 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina. So that’s awesome.

What do you think women are most likely to die from?

• A. Cancer
• B. Malaria
• C. Traffic Accidents
• D. War
• E. Gender Violence

The answer is E. In fact, more women die from gender based violence than all of the others combined.

What can you do today?

Well sorry about giving you all notice day-of…it’s probably too late for you to start a rally…but there might be one going on near you! And oh don’t worry, I just went to the 1 Billion Rising Flashmob in Farragut Square. And you can watch similar events live-streaming from all over the world on the 1 Billion Rising website.

For those of you on the Twitter, you can also tweet/re-tweet (#1billionrising, #reasontorise, and #vday), and follow (@VDay, @eveensler, @AmnestyInternational, @NWLC, @UNrightswire), and check out V-Day’s Facebook page.

What else can you do?

Call on the U.S. government to ratify CEDAW! The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is a landmark international agreement that affirms principles of fundamental human rights and equality for women around the world.  To date, 187 out of 194 countries have ratified CEDAW. The United States is one of only seven countries – including Iran, Sudan, and Somalia —that haven’t ratified this international agreement. The Obama Administration strongly supports ratification, but CEDAW has never been brought to the Senate floor for a vote.

Sign the Citizens for Global Solutions petition in support of U.S. ratification of CEDAW.

You can learn more from this Violence Against Women Webinar.

Why?

1. Ratifying the CEDAW treaty would continue America’s proud bipartisan tradition of promoting and protecting human rights. Ratification requires two-thirds of the Senate to stand together for women and has no additional financial cost.
2. Ratifying CEDAW strengthens the United States as a global leader in standing up for women and girls around the world. Under the leadership of Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton, the U.S. ratified similar treaties on genocide, torture, and race. 
3. Advancing women’s human rights is fundamental to America’s national security interests and a cornerstone of our foreign policy. Countries are more peaceful and prosperous when women have full and equal rights and opportunity. Ratifying CEDAW would give America greater clout to help women worldwide win basic rights. 
4. CEDAW opens important conversations at home. While American women enjoy opportunities and status not available to most of the world’s women, few would dispute that more progress is needed. CEDAW would provide an opportunity for national dialogue on how to address persistent gaps in women’s full equality particularly regarding closing the pay gap, reducing domestic violence and stopping trafficking.

So there’s that. Spread the word. I will now step down from my soap box, eat some chocolate, and wish you all a Happy V-Day!