V-Day works to put a stop to violence

By: Jessi Kohn

Posted: 4/9/09

"One in four women might be a victim of violence." These were the opening words of Professor Katy Strzepek, who teaches Women's Studies at St. Ambrose University.

"A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer," also known as V-Day, has come to SAU and made an impact. V-day is a movement that is done all around the world to help raise awareness of violence against women and girls. This day helps raise not only awareness, but also funds to help domestic violence shelters and counseling programs at Family Resources and for women survivors of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a collection of monologues written by a variety of writers and edited by Eve Ensler and Mollie Doyle. The Women's Studies 201 classes and Women's Studies Honor Society were the ones in charge of this memory, monologue, rant and prayer.

The project is required for all those who are enrolled in Strzepek's Women's Studies 201. Strzepek said she was approached with the idea to bring V-Day to SAU by some former students.

"Katelynn Krahn, a women's studies minor, and several other minors who have since graduated asked me about doing this project at St. Ambrose and I was pleased to integrate it into my Women's Studies 201 class in the spring to teach students more about this issue and to show them how to become campus activists," Strzepek said.

For many students, this wasn't their first year performing the monologue. Kelsey Rentfro, an SAU sophomore, has participated before in this presentation and says she really enjoys getting the word out about violence and how men and women are affected by it.

"Human rights issues like this have shown themselves to be a huge part of who I am and what I care about, so this performance of course affected me because I feel like even the minor act of reading a piece is touching someone and changing someone's outlook on this issue," Rentfro said.

The outcome wasn't what some expected, but with the help of those who did attended, the Women's Studies class made over $1,000 towards the funds to help women and girls who are being abused. Some people showed up that you would have never expected to show up and some were returners ready to learn new and interesting facts on violence against women.
Rentfro, along with many other participants of V-day, said that they believe the presentation to be very moving and felt that everyone who came enjoyed it.

"I had a friend who would usually never go watch something like this on his own and I even noticed that later that night, he was already thinking critically about the issue by watching how he spoke about women and the implications his ideas had. That's powerful," Rentfro said.

Not only was it informative for people watching, but also for those who were involved in setting up for the special event. Dina Marino, a sophomore at SAU, was involved in the publicity
committee along with many other students.

"A lot of work needed to be put into this to make it have a good outcome. Programs had to be made, we needed to find people to donate things for the raffle, and we had to make sure that there were signs and posters up everywhere so people knew what was going on. If we didn't work hard we would not have made the large amount of money that we did and we definitely would not have had the great outcome that we did," Marino said.

This program was meant to reach out to both men and women
Broc Nelson a senior at SAU, who also participated in V-Day, was very moved by the project and this is also, like Rentfro, his second year participating in the project.

"I am rather stoic, passion rarely overwhelms me, and have not been brought to tears in many years. However, the first time I listened to these stories and began to reflect on their realities, I was sold on the project with a small lump in my throat," Nelson said.

To all those who attended V-Day and donated money, you are greatly appreciated and have helped make a difference in accomplishing the V-Day vision, "We see a world where women live safely and freely."

To learn how you can get involved or keep up to date with the V-Day movement, visit their website at www.vday.org.