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ONE BILLION RISING EVENT AT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BRUSSELS - WEDNESDAY 12.02.2014

The European Women’s Lobby and Members of the EP rise for Justice and for 2016 to be the European Year to End Violence against Women

Wednesday 12 February 2014
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BRUSSELS - Ground floor (Main Hall - niveau 0)

• From 9h30 to 12h: MEPs and Commissioners will be able to sign in a board full of colourful handprints (representing all the women around the globe rising for justice) to show their engagement

• At 12h: Group Picture with MEP, speeches from EWL President Viviane Teitelbaum, Isabelle Durant MEP and Antonyia Parvanova MEP

• Then invitation to dance on EWL song “Rise up! Stand Up!”

• Opportunity for individual interviews with MEPs and Commissioners.

In the framework of the ONE BILLION RISING (OBR) Global Campaign 2014 (see below), the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is organizing a unique event at the European Parliament, co-hosted by the Vice-President of the EP Isabelle Durant, to raise awareness on violence against women.

A big board full of colorful hands (representing all the women around the globe rising for justice) will be shown at the European Parliament in Brussels on the 12th of February at the Ground floor (Main Hall - niveau 0 – ASP). MEPs will be signing the board and rise for Justice and for 2016 to be the European Year to End Violence against Women.

A group picture with all the MEPs will be taken at 12h00 with the press invited to cover the event. MEPs will also be invited to dance and will be available for interviews.

One in three women is a victim of violence in the world. This represents one billion women. In Europe, 7 women die every day from domestic violence and one in 10 are victims of sexual violence. On the eve of unveiling the findings from the first EU survey on violence against women which will reveal the huge prevalence of violence against women (FRA survey), the EU has an important role to play to end the shame of violence against women. This is why, the EWL is calling on the MEPs to harness again their imagination, demand justice for victims and show their support for 2016 to be the European year to end violence against women.

CONTEXT
ONE BILLION RISING, initiated by V-Day, is the biggest global campaign to end to violence against women, rise for justice and promote gender equality.

In 2013, OBR was a huge success: one billion people in 207 countries rose and danced to demand an end to violence against women. The European Women’s Lobby organised a flashmob in the city center of Brussels in which more than 800 people participated. Highly committed MEPs and EU Commissioners took also part in a flashmob in the European Parliament.

In 2014, ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE is a global call to women survivors of violence and those who love them to gather safely on February 14 in community outside places where they are entitled to justice (court houses, police stations, government offices, etc.). It is a call to survivors to break the silence and release their stories through dance, marches, songs, spoken word, testimonies, etc.

« Justice begins when we speak, release, and acknowledge the truth in solidarity and community. The ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE is an invitation to break free from confinement, obligation, shame, guilt, grief, pain, humiliation, rage, and bondage » One Billion Rising Website.

For the 2014 OBR edition, the EWL is co-organising with its Belgian Members, Conseil des femmes francophones and Vrouwenraad, a festive event in Brussels on 14 February, at 12h, in front of the Palais de Justice (Place Poelaert 1 – 1000, Brussels). The board full of colorful handprints signed by the MEPs will be brought to the event to bring great motivation to the crowd dancing and rising together! A media advisory on this event will follow.


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For more information, interviews, background or visual materials, please contact:

• Marie-Alix, Office of MEP Isabelle Durant, Vice-President of the European Parliament, isabelle.durant-office@europarl.europa.eu, 0032 2 28 47 363

Elvira Buijink, EWL Media and Communication Officer, buijink@womenlobby.org, +32 02/210 04 40

Irene Rosales, EWL Policy Officer, rosales@womenlobby.org, +32 02/210 04 43, +32 0479496164

Colette De Troy, Director of the EWL Observatory against violence against women, detroy@womenlobby.org, +32 (0)2/210 04 24


Note to editors
: The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is the largest umbrella organisation of women’s associations in the European Union (EU), working to promote women’s rights and equality between women and men. EWL membership extends to organisations in all 28 EU member states and three candidate countries, as well as to 20 European-wide organisations, representing a total of more than 2000 associations.
More information: www.womenlobby.org

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