WLUML & Friends on V-day!
The 14th of February marked the day to end violence against women and girls worldwide! Across the globe women and men joined the One Billion Rise Campaign, taking to the streets, striking, rising and dancing to say enough is enough!
Below is a snapshot of how WLUML and its networkers commemorated that day. From Kabul to Khartoum, from London to Hong Kong our sisters took to the streets and “moved” in protest, danced in solidarity, and struck a single promise to keep fighting “to end all violence against women”!
WLUML-ICO joined the One Billion Rise campaign flashmob that took place in the political landmarks of London. In Parliament Square the group danced, though we were denied the right to! The police unplugged the music in an attempt to stop us, but we carried on as we always do using our collective voice to guide us through it! Our second stop involved “breaking into” City Hall and taking over the meeting chamber where MP Jeanette Arnold was giving a speech to mark the day!
In Khartoum, our sister organization, Salmah Women’s Resource centre, set up an event at the Ahfad University for women marking the day with an evening of music, dance, and spoken word! Hikma Ahmed, human rights lawyer marked the day with her team at the Aid Centre for Legal Consultations and Advocacy with plenty of laughter, dance, and music!
In Kabul, some 200 people, men and women, participated in a march, which was planned by several Afghan rights groups. In Hong Kong, hundreds of women including Edna Aquino, WLUML’s CVAW coordinator- representing the multicultural communities in Hong Kong took part in the One Billion Rising campaign which was held at the Statue Square, the heart of cosmopolitan Hong Kong.
The event was organised by the newly-formed Speak for Humanity, an alliance of individuals and groups aiming to raise social awareness regarding the injustices and oppression suffered by ethnic community groups including women migrant workers' groups. The event kicked off with speeches from the organisers and readings from Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologue and Men's Prayer, followed by a night of dancing and jubilation.
Here are some news articles, photos, and videos from London, Khartoum, Kabul, and Hong Kong where we all came together, where we all rose!
Articles
Kabul
http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-women-march-against-violence-093758106.html (Our sisters in Afghanistan take to the streets)
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?section=international&xfile=data/international/2013/February/international_February589.xml (Our sisters in Afghanistan take to the streets)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/afghanistan/2013/02/130214_k04_afghan_women_protest.shtml (Our sisters in Afghanistan take to the streets)
In stills
London
http://www.demotix.com/news/1798412/one-billion-rising-valentines-day-flash-mob-parliament-square#media-1798406 (We were at London Parliament Square)
Sudan – London-Hong Kong
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93451172@N04/
In motion!
London
http://cityhalllabour.org/city-hall-surprise-event-says-no-to-violence-against-women/ (London flashmob interupptting MP Jeanette Arnold speech in City Hall!)
http://www.channel4.com/news/one-billion-rising-global-action-to-reclaim-valentines-day (Snippets from London to around the world)
Hong Kong
http://www.hkpinoytv.com/one-billion-rising-hong-kong/ (Migrant workers rise, strike and dance on the streets of Hong Kong)
