Purna Sen, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate in Brighton Pavilion, supported this year’s One Billion Rising event in Brighton on Valentine Day.
Purna Sen, Labour Parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion
One Billion Rising (OBR) is a global campaign to end to violence against women and to promote gender equality. It was started in 2012 as part of the V-Day movement inspired by Eve Ensler’s play, The Vagina Monologues.
The billion refers to the UN statistic that one in three women will be raped or beaten in their lifetime, or about one billion members of the global population.
In 2012, the One Billion Rising campaign culminated in the biggest mass global action to end violence against women ever.
On February 16 2013, one billion people in 207 countries all over the world rose up and danced to demand an end to violence against women and girls as part of the campaign ‘One Billion Rising’.
In Brighton, flashmobs took place in two locations – being the biggest OBR event in the South of England.
Purna Sen has worked on issues surrounding domestic violence for many years. Purna says: “Violence against women and girls is a scourge on the health, life and dignity of millions of women across the world. A billion women will experience some form of violence in their lifetimes – whether that is domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, genital mutilation or killing. In the UK, over 80,000 rapes are reported each year and two women per week are killed by current or former partners.
“Having worked on this issue for decades, across many countries, advising governments and supporting community organisations, I know very well both how much work there is to do and how much commitment and determination have gone into putting violence against women on the public agenda and into the public consciousness.
“As part of the One Billion Rising initiative, I am proud to stand with others to acknowledge the progress made by forward-looking governments, to honour the women whose lives have been lost and to applaud the women who have rid themselves of fear so as to find safety for themselves and their children.”
Brighton stages an event at Audio showcasing top female talent while flying the flag for equality.
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