College and Community Campaigns

Over the past thirteen years, V-Day's grassroots activists have proven that, when offered the structure and tools to end violence against women in a creative way, they will eagerly embrace the opportunity. Through V-Day's College and Community Campaigns, thousands of motivated individuals across the globe have hosted V-Day events, using The Vagina Monologues and other artistic pieces to raise money for local organizations working to end violence against women and girls, as well as heightening awareness in their communities about the global epidemic of gender-based violence.

In 2011, many took advantage of our five returning options:

As the stalwart favorite script, The Vagina Monologues remains V-Day's most chosen creative vehicle to bring the message forward, this year being performed over 3,500 times around the world. A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer gained momentum, with many directors taking advantage of the opportunity to include men in the cast. There were numerous benefit productions of Any One of Us: Words from Prison, which reveals the connection between women in prison and the violence that often brings them there. Most activists who took on this performance, screened the complementing documentary What I Want My Words To Do To You, the PBS film based on Eve's writing group at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Many groups also screened the 2002 documentary about the creation and impact of the V-Day movement, Until The Violence Stops.

Additionally, V-Day organizers conducted V-Men workshops, with many schools reporting that V-Men will become an ongoing part of their curriculum. And as part of out 2011 Annual Spotlight Campaign, our HaitiTeach-In featured a downloadable presentation that hundreds of activists used to educate their communities about the issues in Haiti and the toll being taken on the bodies of women and girls.

Since the Campaigns' inception in 1998, participation has grown exponentially. In 2011, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events took place.

The proceeds generated from these events have also grown. College and community activists raise an annual average of over $4 million for local groups such as domestic violence shelters and rape crises centers. Also, ten percent of each event's proceeds are channeled back to V-Day's Spotlight Campaign. In this way, activists in every setting from university main-stages to private homes, from coffee shops to classrooms, unite to support a common cause.

UTVS Festivals

V-Day activists, inspired by V-Day's first festival in 2006, V-DAY: UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS: NYC, continued to take the initiative in their own communities this year.

In Detroit, V-Day organizer Deborah Garrett gathered 100 activists for a two-week festival that broke many barriers and highlighted the bond between V-Day activists. Previous Kentucky festival organizer, LeTonia Jones, facilitated a panel discussion following the production of Any One Of Us: Words from Prison.

Dedicated V-Day activist Nancy Rafi organized the second annual V-DAY UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS: PROVIDENCE festival raising $25,000 for 17 local NGOs working to end violence against women and girls. More than 15 events were held across the city culminating with a Red Tent day of healing for Rhode Island women.

For the first time outside of the United States, Canadian activists in Halifax, Nova Scotia, organized a V-DAY UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS festival that included a self-defense course and a youth art show. Festival producer Kim MacDonald galvanized men to get involved, and a group of male community leaders and activists participated in a workshop that explored men's relationships to violence against women and girls.