Violence Against Women
One Billion Rising campaign launched
Representatives of civil society and human rights organisations sing a movement song in Goethe-Institut Dhaka yesterday marking their joining to One Billion Rising campaign initiated by V-Day, an international movement to end violence against women.Photo: STAR
One Billion Rising, a global campaign to end violence against women, was launched in the country yesterday. Eminent feminists and rights activists representing different organisations took part in the launching ceremony at Goethe Institut, Dhaka. Rights activist Khushi Kabir said 160 countries, including the ones in South Asia, had already started numerous activities leading up to the 15th anniversary of V-Day, an international movement to stop violence against women. The anniversary will be observed on February 14, 2013. Numerous awareness programmes will be organised across the country on the occasion. ''On February 14, 2013, One Billion Rising will shake the Earth. The launch is a call on all stakeholders to join the initiative,'' said Khushi Kabir. One in three women on the planet is or has been beaten up or raped during her lifetime, she said. According to this calculation, she said, one billion women would be subjected to violence in their lifetime. "One Billion Rising is a global revolution to stop that.'' The launch featured poetry recitals, reading out stories, gonosangeet (movement songs), and dance. Eminent citizens and cultural personalities like Hamida Hossain, Shaheen Anam, Salma Khan, Sara Zaker, and Rokeya Rafique Baby, among others, attended the event. Wasfia Nazreen, climber of Mount Everest, and Salma Khatun, the country's only woman locomotive driver, were also present. All of them participated in a choral rendition of the gonosangeet, ''Ano Mukti''. The organisations joining the initiative include ActionAid, Adcom, Ain o Salish Kendra, Brac, Manusher Jonno Foundation, Nijera Kori, and Oxfam.
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