By Kendra Corbin, SSH Intern
Traditionally, Valentine’s Day is a holiday dedicated to love and romance. Restaurants become crowded with happy couples while social media sites are littered with photos of flowers and candy. But Valentine’s Day is more than just a chance to show off your wonderful significant other to the world. It’s an opportunity to take a stand for every woman that may not have the ability to stand up for herself.
Annually on February 14, or V-Day, women across the world participate in One Billion Rising. This international event is a reminder that 1 in 3 women will be abused or raped during her lifetime. The campaign’s mission is to end violence against women and girls. Last V-Day, 207 countries took part in One Billion Rising. The campaign states:
ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE is a global call to women survivors of violence and those who love them to gather safely in community outside places where they are entitled to justice – courthouses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings, work places, sites of environmental injustice, military courts, embassies, places of worship, homes, or simply public gathering places where women deserve to feel safe but too often do not. It is a call to survivors to break the silence and release their stories – politically, spiritually, outrageously – through art, dance, marches, ritual, song, spoken word, testimonies and whatever way feels right.
One of the greatest attributes of One Billion Rising is that it encourages women to channel the pain of sexual assault into creativity. Whether through dance, music, art, performance, etc., women and their male allies can include a serious message in an event that is both empowering and entertaining.
Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of attending the One Billion Rising event on my college campus. Students, faculty, and community members gathered to perform a flash mob to the song “Break the Chain” at Shenandoah University. Before the event started, I bumped into one of my female professors. She asked if I was planning to dance. I awkwardly giggled and replied, no, that I would not be participating because I’m not a very coordinated dancer. She laughed and said that if I was looking for fantastic dancers then I came to the wrong place, but that I would see many happy women out on the floor dancing with each other.
When the flash mob started, the words that my professor said made perfect sense. There were some fantastic dancers on the floor while others looked more clumsy and nervous, but every woman (and a few men, too!) smiled and laughed as they shook their bodies. As the music faded out, the group screamed with excitement while they embraced in a group-hug. Seeing that much female power in one room was inspiring.
It doesn’t matter if a person is the greatest dancer on the floor or if they dance like Elaine from Seinfeld. As long as someone chooses to participate in a movement that cares about ending violence against women, then that is a beautiful thing. One Billion Rising has proven that the pain and heartache of sexual assault can be channeled into empowerment. Valentine’s Day flowers and candy are fantastic, but compassion for our sisters is an even better gift to the world.
Kendra Corbin is senior at Shenandoah University. She is majoring in Mass Communications and minoring in Women’s Studies.
