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Northland joins global One Billion Rising campaign to end violence against women

February 6, 2013

Northland College will join with activists around the world to take part in "One Billion Rising." The "One Billion Rising" campaign is part of "V-Day," a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. The event will begin at noon on Thursday, Feb. 14, in the Kendrigan Gymnasium at Northland College.

"One Billion Rising" began as a call to action based on a statistic that one in three women - one billion worldwide - will be raped or beaten during her lifetime. Northland College students organized to join others across the globe in a show of solidarity to promote awareness of domestic violence and sexual assault. The goal behind "One Billion Rising" is to encourage one billion people to rise up and demand an end to violence against women this Valentine's Day.

"When we started V-Day 14 years ago, we had the outrageous idea that we could end violence against women," said V-Day founder Eve Ensler. "Now, we are both stunned and thrilled to see that this global action is truly escalating and gaining force, with union workers, parliament members, celebrities and women of all backgrounds coming forward to join the campaign. When we come together on February 14, 2013, to demand an end to violence against women and girls, it will be a truly global voice that will rise up."

The "One Billion Rising" event at Northland will include a keynote presentation from Beverly Sidlo-Tolliver, sexual assault intervention coordinator with the New Day Shelter in Ashland. Dr. Angela Stroud, assistant professor of sociology and social justice at Northland College, is also a keynote speaker for the event.

"Northland's participation in "One Billion Rising" is a demonstration of the college's commitment to walking the talk when it comes to addressing issues of social justice," said Kevin Schanning, professor of sociology at Northland. "Northland College is reaching out to the surrounding communities and inviting everyone to rise, dance, learn, and take action to address the global epidemic of violence against women."

The event will feature videos from participants explaining their reasons for joining the movement, as well as educational materials about violence against women. A march around Ashland will immediately follow the event.

"It's our responsibility to look out for them just as they have been looking out for us since the day we were born," said Northland College junior Peter Boisclair.

Northland College students organized the school's participation in "One Billion Rising" as part of their Sociology of Global Change course. Information about "One Billion Rising" can be found online at www.onebillionrising.org. To learn more about "V-Day" and its campaigns, visit www.vday.org.