USA Joins a Global Effort to Present V-Day 2015

---

Posted on March 13, 2015

Timmethy James

---

 

The University of South Alabama Common Read/Common World Program will present “V-Day: Until the Violence Stops,” to be held March 17-19. The events are co-sponsored by the V-Day Committee and Student Affairs at USA. Most events are free and open to the public.

V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. Volunteers and schools across the world host events each year to bring attention to the issues of rape, battery and sex slavery. Events are created to educate the public and support survivors. All events will be held in the Student Center Ballroom.

USA campus V-Day events will include a “Brave Miss World” film screening followed by a discussion with Cecilia Peck, the film’s director, on Tuesday, March 17, at 7 p.m. The film screening is co-sponsored by the Jewish Film Festival.

Peck’s “Brave Miss World” provides the viewer with an opportunity to see a compelling story about Linor Abargil, an Israeli who won Miss World in 1998. She was brutally raped, held captive and nearly killed at age 18 by a serial rapist seven weeks before she won the title.

Abargil is now a global advocate in the fight against sexual violence. Peck is the daughter of the late actor Gregory Peck and his wife, Veronique Passani.

A Soteria Method self-defense workshop with Avital Zeisler will be held Wednesday, March 18, at 4 p.m. The self-defense workshop is free for female students who pre-register before the day of the event. Only 50 female students will be able to attend the self-defense workshop.

Zeisler is a self-defense expert and motivational speaker. She was a professional dancer who trained at the National Ballet School of Canada. She overcame the trauma of an assault, leading her to re-define self-defense for herself and other women.

Register early by sending an email to wkw1001@jagmail.southalabama.edu. For more details about the Soteria Method, visit https://www.facebook.com/SoteriaMethod.

A “Vagina Monologues” performance will feature a cast of ten women sharing stories of other women who have been sexually assaulted or abused. This event will be held Thursday, March 19, at 7 p.m. Admission to the performance will be $5 per person. All proceeds will go to the Rape Crisis Center of Mobile and V-Day.

The Vagina Monologues made its name in 1997 as an off-Broadway play that explores female sexuality and strength through a series of stories that are at times humorous and frightening.

Common Read/Common World is the University-wide effort that is a partnership between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs.

The Common Read Selection Committee selected "Listening is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project," which was first published in 2007. It was selected by the committee for the 2014-2015 academic year. "Listening" was selected by a committee composed of USA faculty, students and staff.

"Listening" fits the parameters established for USA's Common Read, including the following:

• Potential to engage students and spark discussion
• Appeal to a wide range of students
• Possibilities for classroom use, including the First Year Experience classes
• Inclusion of cross-cultural education, awareness, knowledge, and sensitivity
• Possibilities for campus programming and
• Relevance for student life

For more information call (251) 460-6452 or email commonread@southalabama.edu.

 

---