They’re Coming!
Dacia Miller
UWEC Alumni
That’s right. The sun is shining, the snow is melting (sort of) and springtime is in the air. It is time, once again, for the annual production of The Vagina Monologues put on by our own campus V-Day Campaign. Many of you will be dissuaded by the mere title of the show, which contains that often taboo female body part, but this is a show you will want to see at least once in your life. What is that you ask? Why yes, the show’s seventeen monologues all have something to do with the vagina.
At face value The Vagina Monologues revolve almost exclusively around the privates. But what you will see and hear is not just women ranting about their “down theres”—you will most certainly not see any man-bashing—but you will hear true stories from women around the globe. These stories can be humorous—such as an elderly woman who finally opens up about her experiences with a boy as a young girl and her wild, wet dreams, or a dominatrix with a soft spot for a woman’s moaning. These stories can be very uncomfortable to hear, pushing the limit of what you currently know about the deeply personal side of women and their relationships with their bodies. These stories can also be profoundly depressing and enraging when you hear about how the women of Bosnia and Kosovo survived rape which was used as a tactic of war. Through the culmination of these experiences, however, you will walk away with a different sense of the world around you.
As always, 100% of the proceeds from every aspect of the show are donated to global and local organizations that desperately need financial support. 10% of our intake is donated to the Global V-Day campaign, with their primary beneficiary again this year being the women of the Democratic Republic of Congo. While war in the DRC has formally stopped, all armed groups involved in the conflict have continued to perpetrate sexual violence.1 We also considerably support Bolton Refuge House, a local battered women’s shelter, and CASA, the Center for Awareness of Sexual Assault right here on the UWEC Campus.
Statistics show that a woman you know, whether you are aware of it or not, has been the victim of sexual assault. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which includes crimes that were not reported to the police, 232,960 women were raped or sexually assaulted in the United States in 2005. This is more than 600 women every day.2 60% of these crimes are never reported.3
The targets are young women. Between the ages of 20-24 women are at the greatest risk of non-fatal domestic violence4 and women 24 and younger suffer from the highest rates of rape.5 The Justice Department estimates that one in five women will experience rape or attempted rape during their college years and that less than 5% of these rapes will be reported.6 Now presumably, you, the reader, are a college student of this age or at least a student/faculty/employee surrounded by peers of this age. Do these statistics not make you angry? Do they not prompt you to want to do something about it? If not, then fine. You can go on with your life blindly ignoring the fact that sexual assault does happen and it’s more prevalent than you think. Just because it’s not blatantly and openly talked about does not mean it doesn’t happen. This does not mean that it’s none of your business. It is your business. Especially when it happens to someone you care about.
Fortunately there is something you can do about it. You can show your support for local groups, shelters and programs that fight every day to stop the violence against women and girls. You can volunteer with CASA or Bolton. You can give The Vagina Monologues a chance and maybe be entertained and have a little fun along the way. If you really hate our show, then hey, the bright side is that you just donated to a more than worthy cause.
1. Human Rights Watch, The War within the War: Sexual Violence against Women and Girls in Eastern Congo, 2002, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/drc/ and Réseau des Femmes pour un Développement Associatif (RFDA), Réseau des Femmes pour la Défense des Droits et la Paix (RFDP) and International Alert, Women's Bodies As Battleground : Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls During the War in the DRC, 2005
2. Bureau of Justice Statistics (table 2, page 15), http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cvus0601.pdf
3. U.S. Department of Justice, 2005 National Crime Victimization Study, 2005
4. Bureau of Justice Statistics, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/intimate/victims.htm#age
5. Bureau of Justice Statistics (table 4, page 17), http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cvus0601.pdf
6. National Institute of Justice (pages6-7), http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/205521.pdf