Welcome to ONE BILLION RISING, V-Day’s Annual
Report for 2012 – 2013.
On 14 February, activists in 207 countries, more than
the UN officially recognizes, rose. Women wrote in
This year, with your help, we witnessed history in the saying that they had never realized they could get
help until they heard about the campaign, others
making when one billion people ROSE in unison to
end violence against women and girls. For 15 years, wrote to tell us the details of their risings. Videos and
pictures flooded in on V-Day’s Facebook page and
V-Day activists have shattered taboos, changed
culture, and funded critical on the ground anti-violence Twitter feed. By the end of the day, Twitter impressions
were over 500 million and #1billionrising had trended
work. This year, they moved the needle so that the
issue of violence against women and girls will never in seven countries, including multiple times in the
U.S. and UK. Media impressions in the U.S. alone
be marginalized again.
exceeded 600 million with foreign correspondents
In the same way that The Vagina Monologues
from CNN, BBC, The Guardian and Reuters among
became our guide 15 years ago, One Billion Rising
the many following the day.
has become our mantra, our muse.
As you will see through this report, when working in
By just saying the phrase ”One Billion Rising”,
community, local activists have the power to rise up
inviting people to say it and understand it, we
and carve out deeper impact on a global scale. It
accomplished a key goal of the campaign – showing
was a breathtaking year, and we hope you enjoy
the world how central the issue of violence against
reading about it.
women and girls is by showing them how many
We’re ready for 2014. Join us and RISE4JUSTICE!
women have been affected.
In the end, our team of staff, activists, and supporters
moved fast and kept true to the mission. We laughed
and we cried and we kept going with a spirit that
was beautiful, at times intense, but always meaningful.
Planning for a global day of action that would begin
in Australia and 48-hours later end in Hawaii was a
challenge for our social media team who stayed up
throughout.
Susan Celia Swan
Executive Director
Cecile Lipworth
Managing Director