POST-EVENT PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tanya Lutvey +66870515049 Tanya.lutvey@gmail ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE: Chiang Mai Why are we rising? For Justice! Why are we dancing? For Justice! February 15, 2014: On Saturday, February 15, 2014, at 3.30pm, One Billion Rising (OBR) Chiang Mai (formerly V-Day Chiang Mai) joined with activists around the world for ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE. The campaign built upon the energy and momentum that was created on February 14, 2013 when one billion activists in 207 countries and territories came together to rise, strike, and dance, in the biggest mass action in human history, to demand an end to violence against women and girls. This year, the focus was on the issue of justice for all survivors of gender violence, and ending the rampant impunity that prevails globally. ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE is a global call to women, men, and youth around the world to gather safely on 14 February 2014 outside places where they are entitled to justice – court houses, 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. On Saturday, February 15 2014, more than 200 women, men and children gathered in solidarity at Chiang Mai’s Tha Pae gate. Only three weeks after its conception, members and friends One Billion Rising Chiang Mai, rose for justice in the form of a flash mob. In the same spirit that was echoed in One Billion Rising events across the globe, participants performed a (mostly) well-rehearsed choreography to the song ‘Break the Chain’ and the beat of drums. ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE, Chiang Mai had its own distinctive flavor, as individuals and local and international organizations took to the stage to share what justice means to them. The cultural diversity of Chiang Mai was accurately represented as speakers from all over the world were encouraged to take the microphone. It was evident that Rising for Justice to end gender violence, was an all-inclusive and all-encompassing priority for all participants. Kate Lapin, Regional Director of Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development’s (APWLD) led the way; ‘APWLD and our 180 members across Asia Pacific are rising because the promises of justice that states have repeatedly made are as distant as ever. The world is now deeply unjust. 85 people in the world now own more than the poorest 3.5 billion. A Bangladeshi garment worker will make less laboring in life threatening conditions in an entire year than one of the worlds richest people makes every second of every minute of every day. Women are being forced to migrate to earn meagre wages as domestic workers denied the most basic labour rights and subjected to abuse. Women are being forced off their land to make way for agri-business and corporate development projects. Violence against women is normalised and as prevalent as ever. We rise to demand development justice. We rise because change is only possible through the power of movements.’ Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), Chanda Thapa, highlighted the importance of justice for all women; ‘Indigenous peoples make up 280 million in Asia alone, which makes roughly 140 million indigenous women. We experience many different forms of gender based violence. Justice for indigenous women means the recognition of our own identity and culture’ Meanwhile, Kulsuwarak Pooyee from the Indigenous Women’s Network of Thailand (IWNT), spoke about the situation for women in Thailand; ‘Thai Indigenous women want to stop violence against women, want to act against violence against women. We can change this by beginning to change the behaviour and attitudes of our family and our community then working at a national, regional and international level to change peoples attitudes and behaviors. We can do it!’ Chiang Mai expat and flash-mobber, Tineke Baird, gave her reasons; ‘I am rising because one woman abused is one too many; one in three is an outrage. I am rising because justice demands that the voiceless be heard and the perpetrators be held to account’. ONE BILLION RISING, Chiang Mai could not have been made possible without the support and dedication of APWLD, lead organizer, Lisa Kerry, Thai coordinator Pichay Buai Leang, and all those involved in the OBR movement. As future plans arise, including participation in upcoming International Women’s Day celebrations on March 8th, One Billion Rising Chiang Mai hope to continue in their rise for justice and equality. To learn more about One Billion Rising Chiang Mai, e-mail tanya.lutvey@gmail or lisakerryphoto@gmail. You can also like us on Facebook to keep up to date with coming events. (https://facebook/vdaychiangmai) About APWLD APWLD is Asia Pacific’s leading feminist, membership driven network. Our 189 members represent organizations and groups of diverse women from 25 countries in the region. We use capacity development, research, advocacy and activism to claim and strengthen women’s human rights. More at apwld.org About One Billion Rising One Billion Rising was the biggest mass action in human history. The campaign began as a call to action based on the staggering UN statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. On 14 February 2013, people across the world came together to strike, dance, and RISE in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women. Over 10,000 events took place on the ground and the campaign took over media and social media worldwide for 48 hours, trending in 7 countries – 4 times in the US alone. The wildly successful grassroots campaign was covered widely by media in all corners of world including The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, and many more. onebillionrising.org About V-Day V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. The V-Day movement has raised over $100 million; educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it; crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns; reopened shelters; and funded over 13,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Egypt, and Iraq. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements and awards and is, one of the Top-Rated organizations on both Charity Navigator and Guidestar. V-Day’s most recent global campaign, ONE BILLION RISING, galvanized over one billion women and men on a global day of action towards ending violence against women and girls. vday.org
Posted on: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 13:12:33 +0000
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