The Feminist Majority, a student organization promoting women’s equality and reproductive rights, treated attendees to its annual V-Day Celebration with vagina-shaped cookies, a production of the Vagina Monologues, and a climatic raffle of a vibrator in an effort to raise awareness of violence against women.
The event, held at Hutch Commons Monday night at 8:30 p.m., was one of thousands of similar events held around the world as part of the global V-Day movement, a non-profit campaign that aims to stop the domestic and sexual abuse of women worldwide. Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler started the movement in 1998, and several University students contributed to the campaign by performing various monologues from her award-winning play about female sexuality.
“We hope this event will raise awareness about the impact violence has on women’s lives as well as increase students’ desire to work to end violence against women,” said Sara Kalantari, social chair of the Feminist Majority and third-year in the College. “We hope that this play will also make women feel more comfortable about their bodies.”
Early To Bed, a woman-owned sex shop, donated the vibrators that were raffled off by the group. All proceeds from the raffle and individual donations will go to Debra’s Place, a Chicago-area women’s shelter. V-Day claims events like this one helped the movement raise 25 million dollars during the last seven years.
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