This year, the organisers of the event, called One Billion Rising, will escalate their efforts and call on people everywhere to “Rise, release, dance and demand justice”.
According to founder Eve Ensler, the movement is “a global call to women survivors of violence and those who love them to gather safely in a [community] place where they are entitled to justice, like courthouses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings, workplaces, sites of environmental injustice, military courts, embassies, places of worship, homes, or… public gathering places where women deserve to feel safe but… 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,” she said.
In Joburg, those who would like to take part in the movement can join a One Billion Rising dance class on 14 February outside the University of Johannesburg’s Kingsway Campus Student Centre at 1pm.
The class will be run by The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative in association with UJ Arts and Culture.
Also on 14 February will be a once-off performance art event, Score, at The Plat4orm, 102 Frere Road, Bezuidenhout Valley, at 7.30pm.
Created by Seity performance company, the performance will trace elements of violence within relationships and echo how this violence could resonate in various couple’s lives.
Details: www.onebillionrising.org
