Locals engage in a choreographed global movement

Thousands of local women, children and men alike participated in the One Billion Rising movement all over the country.  Expressed through flash mobs or dance sequences performed in public, it seeks to call out the total end of gender-based violence, especially to women and girls.

Since its first debut in 2012, OBR is in fact the biggest international campaign with such a mission that happens in more than 180 countries and everyone is welcomed to engage in this yearly phenomenon.

According to onebillionrising.org, statistics show that 1 in 3 women worldwide may have or will possibly experience physical and/or sexual abuse during her lifetime. That staggering number equates to more than 1 billion of girls and women out of the 7 billion world population. 

The intended influence

The global dance of resistance is a call to action to primarily fight against all forms of violence against women, including transgender women and those who identify themselves with other gender expressions.

The Global Campaign Director of OBR Monique Wilson also emphasized that art can be utilized as a powerful and creative form of resistance to address the roots of patriarchy and misogyny that are still being normalized in today’s society all across the globe. The mass action of dancing in public draws more attention that may be intriguing for other people to know more about the cause.

Rise, resist, unite

Over time, One Billion Rising has developed its campaign to condemn a variety of social issues that do not merely just inflict over women’s welfare, but for every marginalized sector in society. Their vision of intersectionality has paved its way to fight tyranny and human rights abuses that are often overlooked in spite of their blatant persecution to the people. Other issues this movement fights for include homophobia, transphobia, corporate greed, racial justice, climate destruction, and more.

GABRIELA, Kadamay, Amihan, and several other organizations led the local OBR campaign throughout the country. Just at the Bayanihan Park in Angeles City, different groups also gathered to participate in the OBR, dancing and chanting to rise, resist and unite to address violence against women, plunder and corruption, human rights violations, unemployment, improper land distribution, and other social issues.

“We rise – in countries across the world – to show our local communities and the world what one billion looks like and shine a light on the rampant impunity and injustice that survivors most often face. We rise through dance to express joy and community and celebrate the fact that we have not been defeated by this violence. We rise to show we are determined to create a new kind of consciousness – one where violence will be resisted until it is unthinkable,” stated from a Facebook post of One Billion Rising Philippines.

 

Leave a comment