This week Penn students will celebrate vaginas.
Penn’s V-Day Campaign will host its 10th-annual production of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues at 8 p.m. on Feb. 11 and 12 in Irvine Auditorium, as part of an effort to break the silence surrounding sexual violence against women.
V-Day is a global movement to end violence against females through funds and awareness raised from benefit productions of The Vagina Monologues.
Ninety percent of the proceeds from this year’s show will be donated to Women Organized Against Rape, Philadelphia’s only rape crisis center, in an effort to fund an additional counselor for its staff.
The remainder of the proceeds from each production of The Vagina Monologues around the world are used to build shelters for rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where sexual violence has been used as a war mechanism.
According to College senior and co-director of The Vagina Monologues Jody Pollock, this year’s V-Day Campaign focuses on building a community and a movement to embolden men and women to acknowledge and end sexual violence.
“We hope that the show will propel audience members toward action,” she added.
Action and awareness were primary goals for College senior and co-director of the production Cassidy Regan who believes that last semester’s reported cases of rape on Penn campus make V-Day’s cause more relevant.
“In light of what’s happened, everyone could stand to be a little more aware of sexual violence and its impact on women,” she said.
College sophomore and Fundraising Chair Mady Glickman noted the need for male involvement for the cause. “Women alone cannot stop the violence,” she said.
The Campaign’s Fraternity Challenge is a new initiative to encourage men to contribute to the movement, Glickman said.
The V-Day Campaign will award a $450 gift certificate to Drinkers West and a free Chipotle dinner to the fraternity that raises the most money. The fraternity that has the highest percentage of brothers attend the show will receive a gift certificate to Blockley’s Pourhouse and a free Allegro’s dinner for all its brothers.
College senior and producer of the show Ilana Millner hopes the show will inspire all to a greater understanding of women’s issues around the world and the desire of all women to have both their bodies and minds respected.
“The Vagina Monologues, as a show, is a two day occurrence. The Vagina Monologues, as a movement, is a lifelong commitment,” she said
