In anticipation of the 25th Anniversary of V‐Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls (cisgender and transgender), those who hold fluid identities, non-binary people, girls, and the planet, the City of West Hollywood is encouraging the community members to take part in an event to commemorate the impact of the V-Day movement and launch a temporary Silent Witness display at West Hollywood Park.
The City of West Hollywood’s 25th Anniversary of V-Day event will take place on Sunday, February 26, 2023 at 2 p.m. on the Respite Deck of the Aquatic and Recreation Center at West Hollywood Park, located at 8750 El Tovar Place. The event is free and open to the public and there will be limited validated parking available in the West Hollywood Park 5-Story Structure, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. For details and to reserve a spot, visit the Eventbrite page.
The event is an activist- and survivor-led gathering with special guest speakers and a call to action to demand freedom from gender-based violence. It will also feature a community-based temporary display of silhouettes symbolizing people killed by domestic violence and intimate partner violence, called Silent Witness. The Silent Witness Initiative promotes an end to domestic violence through community-based exhibits and education that started with a small group of volunteers in one state and grew into an international presence, with projects in all 50 States and in 23 countries.
The Silent Witness silhouettes will be displayed with anti-violence messaging at various locations in West Hollywood through the month of March. Violence prevention and awareness information will also be highlighted in March through the City’s Only Yes Means Yes public awareness campaign about sexual assault, which promotes the important message of consent. West Hollywood City Hall and the lanterns along Santa Monica Boulevard will glow in the color pink in recognition of V-Day from Wednesday, February 15, 2023 through Tuesday, February 28, 2023.
The V-Day event will mark the 10th Anniversary of V-Day’s One Billion Rising Campaign, 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, which had its West Coast launch hosted by the City of West Hollywood. More than two decades ago, Eve Ensler’s play The Vagina Monologues gave birth to V-Day bringing widespread attention to issues of harassment, rape, battery, incest, domestic and intimate partner violence, female genital mutilation, and sex slavery. The V-Day movement has raised more than $120 million, has educated people about violence against women, and has funded more than 13,000 community-based anti-violence programs.
For more information about the City’s annual commemoration of V-Day, please contact Larissa Fooks, the City of West Hollywood’s Community Events Coordinator, at (323) 848-6413 or at [email protected]. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.
For resources for male survivors of DV and SA, check out 1in6.org