On 14 February 2013, one billion people in 207 countries rose and danced to demand an end to violence against women and girls.

On 14 February 2014, we escalated our efforts, calling on women and men everywhere to RISE, RELEASE, DANCE, and demand JUSTICE!

ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE was a global call to women survivors of violence and those who love them to gather safely in community outside places where they are entitled to justice – court houses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings, work places, military courts, embassies, places of worship, homes, or simply public gathering places where women deserve to feel safe but too often do not. It was a call to survivors to break the silence and release their stories – politically, spiritually, outrageously – through art, dance, marches, ritual, song, spoken word, testimonies and whatever way feels right.

Our stories have been buried, denied, erased, altered, and minimized by patriarchal systems that allow impunity to reign. Justice begins when we speak, release, and acknowledge the truth in solidarity and community. ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE was an invitation to break free from confinement, obligation, shame, guilt, grief, pain, humiliation, rage, and bondage.

The campaign was a recognition that we cannot end violence against women without looking at the intersection of poverty, racism, war, the plunder of the environment, capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy. Impunity lives at the heart of these interlocking forces.

It was a call to bring on revolutionary justice.

In addition to the actions that took place on the ground in over 200 countries, we invited activists to envision justice for all survivors of gender violence and share these visions with online through art, poetry, video, photography and proclamations.
THIS IS WHAT JUSTICE LOOKS LIKE

For more on the global media coverage of the events and their impact, check out the 2014 Press Page