SAVE THE DATE 12/1/06! NYC Event With Eve Ensler, Dr. Denis Mukwege
11/17/2006
SAVE THE DATE!
The Center for Global Affairs at NYU
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
in collaboration with
V-Day, the Global Movement to End Violence Against Women and Girls
PRESENTS
A Conversation between Eve Ensler and Dr. Denis Mukwege on Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Situations of Conflict
Friday, December 1, 2006
6pm - 8pm
New York University School of Law
Pre-registration will be required, Formal invitation will follow on Monday.
The scourge of sexual violence connects many of the humanitarian emergencies of our time, from Darfur and northern Uganda, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Bosnia, Timor-Leste and beyond. Faced with an estimated 25,000 cases of rape and other sexual violence against women and children reported per year in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UN Under-Secretary-General Jan Egeland recently described the plague of sexual violence that has prevailed in the country's eastern provinces for nearly a decade, as a "cancer that seems out of control". The effects of sexual violence are catastrophic, rending the bonds of family, community, and society. Despite the recognition that rape can constitute a crime against humanity -- a charge second in gravity only to genocide -- the problem continues unabated today in too many environments like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Darfur, where the mere act of foraging for wood or fetching drinking water exposes hundreds of thousands of women and girls to grave danger, and where systematic rape -- and near-total impunity -- continue to define the crises.
Each year V-Day spotlights a particular group of women who are experiencing violence with the goal of raising awareness and funds to put a worldwide media spotlight on this area and to raise funds to aide groups who are addressing it. In 2007 the V-Day Spotlight will be on Women in Conflict Zones.
This event, a dialogue between two long-time advocates dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls in violent situations, will contribute to expanding the awareness of sexual violence in the Congo and beyond, examining mechanisms for prevention and ways to influence policy change on the ground.
EVE ENSLER is an Award-winning Playwright/Performer/Activist and Founder of V-Day, a global movement that supports anti-violence organizations throughout the world
DR. DENIS MUKWEGE MUKENGERE is the Director and Founder of the ground-breaking Panzi General Referral Hospital in Bukavu, South Kivu Democratic Republic of the Congo