Gannett Newspapers

Behind a Scarsdale façade of wealth and suburban respectability, [Eve] Ensler endured a traumatic childhood. The daughter of a corporate president, she says she was raped by her father from the age of 10, when the sex turned to brutal beatings.

…That early life in Scarsdale paved the way for ‘V-Day…"The V stands for Vagina, Victory, Valentine’s Day or anti-Violence," says Ensler. "Take your pick. What we’re saying is this: If, by the year 2005, rape, incest, battery and genital mutilation hasn’t ended, we’re going to call a global strike of women to stop it. That’s our agenda."

…Ensler has worked for a year with two producers and a committee of 40 women to put together the V-Day performance… "It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever done in my life," she says. "We started with nothing. Not one corporation would give us a penny, because of the word vagina."