One Billion Rising: Global Day of Action to End Gender Based Violence
13 February 2021
13 February 2021
One Billion Rising: Global Day of Action to End Gender Based Violence
About 1 Billion Rising
One Billion Rising is the biggest mass action to end violence against women (cisgender, transgender, and those who hold fluid identities that are subject to gender-based violence) in human history.
The campaign, which launched on Valentine’s Day 2012, began as a call to action based on the staggering 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.
Every February, we rise – in countries across the world – to show our local communities and the world what one billion looks like and shine a light on the rampant impunity and injustice that survivors most often face. We rise through dance to express joy and community and celebrate the fact that we have not been defeated by this violence. We rise to show we are determined to create a new kind of consciousness – one where violence will be resisted until it is unthinkable.
2021 Rising Gardens Campaign
The Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly blown open the destructive veins of neoliberalism, capitalism, racism, fascism and patriarchy, revealing violent and broken systems that have been forced upon us for far too long. With each day, we see that the majority of people who are dying are those who have been historically exploited, oppressed, marginalized and discriminated against because of race, gender, class, caste.
Additionally, the sacred connection that Indigenous communities hold with the land has been violated through colonization, broken treaties, and the continuous human rights violations made against Indigenous people.
Across the planet, the majority of front-line workers, health care workers, home care workers, domestic workers, and farmworkers are women. Like the Earth, they are the least valued and protected.
We must RISE to value, protect and uplift those who are doing essential work. We must RISE for the Earth, which is the most essential to all life.
We call on everyone around the world to RISE in honour and celebration of our women workers, and to create and grow RISING GARDENS.
Why RISING GARDENS?
Gardens remind us of our enduring connection to life, to each other and to Earth, which compels us to do everything in our power to protect and nurture life and all that is sacred without doing harm. The cultivation of plant life is also a means for survival. Growing food in a garden organically – be it your own indoor garden or a community garden – allows you to feed yourself and your community. It provides autonomy and underscores the need for food security in a world where so many are denied these essential resources. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported in April that the coronavirus pandemic could double the number of people suffering from acute food insecurity this year to around 265 million globally.
Maintaining a garden is an act of resistance because it does the opposite of what the capitalist machinery does – it connects people and communities with the Earth. To grow one’s own food, to grow beauty and life – is revolutionary in this age of ecological, environmental, societal, spiritual collapse. To put our energies, our creativity, our hearts into everything that can grow and sustain all forms of life when the current world order is bent on destruction is a radical political act. The existence and persistence of community gardens in food deserts and low-income neighbourhoods is a testament to the resilience of the Black and Brown communities who cultivate them.
- Visit the website for local events happening in your area here
- For ways to take action, check out some resources and the toolkit here
- As we honour the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community, readers in the U.S. may benefit from this article and links to support groups here
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