V-Day Annual Report 2016 - ONE BILLION RISING: RISE FOR REVOLUTION 1 | Page 11

WHAT BECAME CLEAR IS THAT
ONE BILLION RISING HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED

from what began as a worldwide creative dance protest into a more nuanced act of collective
defiance, which uses art as a powerful political tool for resistance and protest. A colorful,
diverse and highly creative celebration of local and global solidarity, OBR brought people
across the world to dance with rage against all forms of violence – not only sexual and gender
violence, but also the violence of poverty, inequality, exploitation and marginalization that
result from international capitalist and imperialist systems that cause and perpetuate poverty,
unprecedented forms of labor, economic and sexual exploitation, human and sex trafficking,
state sponsored wars, militarization and internal and international displacement that render
countless vulnerable. OBR activists highlighted where these systems support each other in the
continuing oppression of targeted groups, including women, children, Indigenous communities,
migrants, workers, youth, peasants and LGBTQGNC.
Leading up to 14 February, 2016 – and through International Women’s Day on 8 March and
beyond – activists around the world held OBR events that called everyone to “Rise For
Revolution”. They called all sectors, in all countries, to hold their institutions of authority
and justice accountable for ending the culture of impunity and violence – including the
media, schools, local and national governments, religious centers, and international bodies
such as the UN. Oppressive sectors that preserve systemic violence were targeted fiercely
this year, calling into wider public attention institutional and state violence. Global activists
danced with genuine rage against both local issues as well as the intersecting international
structures that sustain systematic oppression. Around the world, the call for revolution was
a thundering demand for justice and system change.