Clarification Regarding Amherst High School V-Day 2004 Benefit Production of “The Vagina Monologues”

V-Day applauds the V-Day organizers and the administration at Amherst High School for educating their students about the issue of violence against women and girls and joining our efforts to end this violence.

This high school performance is part of V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls, through which – in February and March 2004 - nearly 2,500 benefit performances of “The Vagina Monologues” will take place in the U.S. and around the world, to raise funds and awareness to end violence against women and girls. Each V-Day chooses a local group in its community that is working to end violence against women and girls as a beneficiary. In addition, most local V-Day benefits in 2004 will donate up to 10% of their proceeds to V-Day’s International Spotlight on Juarez, Mexico, where in the past decade over 300 women have gone missing or been murdered.

Several press outlets have reported Amherst High as the first high school to put on a V-Day benefit of the play. For the record, Amherst High is not the first high school sanctioned to perform a V-Day benefit performance of "The Vagina Monologues." High school students have applied and put on benefit performances of the play; however, since V-Day does not have a specific high school campaign, there are not numbers available for the number of high school V-Days where the administration has supported their efforts.

(V-Day offers information for high school students who are interested in participating in V-Day’s efforts to end violence against women and girls online at www.vday.org/youth).

As an example of another high school V-Day where the administration supported the event, in 2002, Ethical Culture Fieldstone School in Riverdale, NY presented a V-Day benefit with the support of the administration. In fact, faculty and staff were part of the production: the principal and a lunchroom employee were part of the cast and the event raised over $3000 for a local anti-violence group. At commencement, the principal mentioned the V-Day as something they were very proud to have participated in.

V-Day media contact:
Susan Celia Swan
[email protected]
(917) 865-6603