Flash Mob in Cupertino to End Violence Against Women

On Feb. 14 when roses and chocolates are a gift of affection, one billion women across the world will offer a gift of another kind—a demand for the end of violence against women. The awareness campaign here in Cupertino at De Anza College on Thursday will include a moment of silence and a freeze mob dance in the Main Quad.

It’s part of One Billion Rising, an international movement in its 15th year that brings women and men together to “walk out, dance, rise up, and demand” an end to violence that the group says has affected one billion women.

“It’s all about transforming their pain to power,” says Rev. Frannie Kieschnick, retired pastor of Trinity Church in Menlo Park who works with V-Day and One Billion Rising.

The movement began in Cupertino weeks ago when women’s groups, Cupertino Rotary, St. Jude’s Episcopal Church and other community members donated money and goods to V-Day—the group behind One Billion Rising—that would be shipped to the City of Joy, a place of healing for victims of rape and other violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu; a clinic that specializes in the treatment of survivors of violence.

Recently, a handful of women gathered at St. Jude’s to box up the donated items that included such items as sanitary napkins, clothing, games, yoga mats, books, gardening tools, medical supplies, and more that would be shipped via a Google plane out of Moffett Field. Listen to Kieschnick, talk more about the donations and their purpose in the attached video.

“On (Feb. 14 we’ll) feel the solidarity that in a way we’re already feeling from the items that  have been collected by St. Judes and the Rotary and small clusters of women’s groups. It’s amazing,” Kieschnick says.

V-Day evolved from the play The Vagina Monologues, written by playwright and activist Eve Ensler, who found women wanting to talk to her about their experiences with violence. It moved her to start V-Day, a global, grassroots movement to bring awareness to violence against women and children and hopes to dispel taboos about rape, sex slavery, female genital mutilation, incest and battery.

One Billion Rising at De Anza College is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday in the Main Quad.

Other V-Day events in the Bay Area on Feb. 14 include:

WALK AND DANCE

9 a.m., 180 N. Rengstorff, Mountain View.

Waldorf School of the Peninsula's students grades 6 through 12, along with faculty, will walk through the school neighborhood wearing black and pink. Plans include “some dancing in a grassy area on Middlefield Road.

ONE BILLION RISING: SJSU DANCEATHON

11 a.m., San Jose State University Event Center Plaza, San Jose.

A 2-hour dance party to celebrate One Billion Rising and protest the violence against women will include stories from people in the community. Information from local women's groups will be available.

ONE BILLION RISING VALENTINES DAY EVENT: BUTTON-MAKING, CARD-MAKING, MUSIC FOR DANCING

12 p.m., College Nine, UCSC, Santa Cruz.

Activities include making Valentine’s cards, buttons to protest violence against women, booths with information, dancing, music and more.

WOMEN RISING IN LOS ALTOS

12 p.m. downtown Los Altos.

Several local women's groups invite the community to gather in downtown Los Altos to rise up against violence against women.