Students join One Billion Rising campaign against violence (From York Press)

Students join One Billion Rising campaign against violence

7:54am Friday 15th February 2013 in News

Students in York took part in a global campaign by performing a ten-minute “rise” in the city centre.

They were joined by university staff and passers-by in St Sampson’s Square which saw them slowly raise themselves from the ground to point to the sky.

The event was to raise awareness of One Billion Rising, a campaign that demands an end to violence against women and girls. An estimated one-in-three women in the world will be raped or abused in her lifetime – which adds up to one billion women.

A worldwide chain of events was organised to coincide with the 15th anniversary of V-Day, a global activist movement fighting violence against women.

Fiona Thompson, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at York St John University, said: “When I asked my staff to come up with an idea for One Billion Rising, no one imagined how many people would turn up. This is what higher education is all about. It is a women’s issue, but it’s a problem for us all – the people taking part are male and female.”

More than 80 students took part. Two York charities, York Women’s Counselling Services and the Independent Domestic Abuse Services, also attended.