The Vagina Monologues: Raising Awareness for Sexual Assault

Every 73 seconds someone is sexually assaulted in America as reported by The Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network. According to the World Health Organization, one in three women has experienced physical/sexual partner or non-partner violence in their lifetimes. This year, South’s VDay cast put on a moving performance to help put a stop to these heartbreaking statistics. 

On Wednesday, Feb. 19, 10 women gathered on the stage of the Student Center Ballroom to talk about… well, to put it simply, vaginas. From orgasms to embarrassing stories, to some more uncomfortable topics like sexual assault, VDay this year had all the bases covered. The women of the 2020 VDay committee brought laughter and tears to the almost 200 people in attendance. 

Reading from the original script of the episodic play by Eve Ensler, “The Vagina Monologues,” these women put everything out in the open for a great cause. This year VDay raised over $1,000 all benefitting the Mobile Rape Crisis Center. Liv Goerge, a member of this year’s VDay cast spoke about how putting herself in a vulnerable situation gave a sense of importance. 

“The idea of talking about orgasms in front of 200 people is something I was a little squeamish about, but I feel so much more connected to myself, my femininity, and my vagina,” George said. “Being able to tell other people’s stories in their words and put my own spin on it creates this experience that I doubt I’ll ever get out of anything else I do.” 

VDay is a globally celebrated movement to help end violence against women, girls, and children. The “Four Core Beliefs” of the VDay movement is centered around the use of art as a method to create change, using local women to fight for their communities, the idea that change is spread by ordinary people, and one must look at the intersection of race, class, and gender to understand violence against women. You can find a full list of events and information on the VDay website. 

“There is no limit to what you can learn from other people and their experiences,” George said. “It’s truly been humbling because even though I’m the performer, it’s someone else’s story and there’s a level of justice that must be done to it.”

Some of the sponsors for this year’s performance included Jaguar Productions, SGA, the Honors College Association, Dr. Laura Moore, FeAunte’ Preyear, some of South’s fraternities and sororities, as well as the Society of Women Engineers. 

For more information on South’s VDay organization or to get involved follow them on Instagram or any of their other social media.

Link to the original article: https://jagmedia.org/the-vagina-monologues-raising-awareness-for-sexual-assault/