V-Day to be celebrated across Korea

More than a dozen V-Day events are to be held across Korea to help end violence against women.

A range of events are to be held in Seoul, Busan and other cities to support the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.

People around the world are encouraged to stage Eve Ensler’s award-winning play “The Vagina Monologues” and other artistic works during campaign season that has run from February until April for the last 14 years.

V-Day founder Ensler interviewed more than 200 women to write the piece celebrating women’s sexuality and strength.

In Korea this year, a program in Yongsan will see “The Vagina Monologues” staged on March 10, along with a production of “A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer” which can be performed by male as well as female actors.

A presentation will also be given on the history and current situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where women are suffering because of war in the region.

The Yongsan program will also feature a V-Men event on March 9. The project aims to spark discussion about ending gender violence by creating a script on “10 Ways to Be a Man.” The script will be made up of monologues voicing men’s ideas and experiences.

The feedback from the workshops will be added to information gathered from separate interviews to help write the scripts. Firstly, men will host a presentation in a workshop to engage men in discussions. The script will ultimately become part of V-Day campaigns.

Another V-Men event will be held at 12 p.m. on April 22 at HQ Bar in Busan. “The Vagina Monologues” will also be staged at the city’s Vinyl Underground at 8 p.m. on April 28 and 29 with proceeds going to Busan Women’s Shelter.

As part of the Busan events, a “Vagina Trivia” quiz will be held at HQ bar at 8 p.m. on April 26, and a night of acoustic women’s performances will run from 9 p.m. on April 27 at Eva’s Bar in Kyungsung Dae.

This is the third year that V-day will be held in Busan.

“Last year, we had such a great turnout for our one scheduled performance that people got turned away at the door, hence adding another performance this year,” director Jen Sotham said.

Another V-Day Seoul production will benefit the House of Sharing. The performances of “The Vagina Monologues” will be held on April 20, 21 and 27 in English with Korean subtitles.

The play will also be staged at a theater in Changwon’s Jungang-dong area on April 28 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. The organizers aim to raise 5 million won through this year’s activities after raising 7 million won over the past two years.

The city’s V-Day celebrations will also include a photo scavenger hunt, thrift sales, trivia nights and “Celebrity Chef” events where a special dinner can be purchased.

“Our donations have been given to the Migrant Women and Families Center here, with half of the money going to a scholarship fund,” one of the organizers Lauren MacCallum said. “Last year, we also had Korean students from Changwon University perform the monologue on the ‘comfort women,’ which went over very well with our audience.”

Another performance will be held in Gwangju on April 28, and Jeonju Women’s Association United will benefit from show at Jeonju University Theater on April 14 and 15.

Women on Jeju are also set to perform ― with the dates of these shows yet to be confirmed.

Teachers from Korea International School in Bundang will also stage the play in April with details of time and place soon to be decided.

A performance has already been held at Gangwongdo University in Chuncheon on Feb. 11, raising more than 200,000 won for the Korea Unwed Mothers Support Network.

“I’ve loved the Vagina Monologues since I first saw it,” said the show’s organizer Ashley Harding.

“I love the message of supporting women. I think it is one that should be spread. What I’ve done with our humble first effort is to get the ball rolling; I hope it continues.”

Last year, more than 5,800 V-Day benefit events took place around the world, and to date the movement has raised more than $85 million for organizations supporting women. The supported causes have included more than 13,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq.

The success of the international movement has meant that more than 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community.

For more information go to: www.vday.org.

By Kirsty Taylor (kirstyt@heraldcorp.com)