eve ensler
Democracy Now! Tuesday, June 7, 2011
In the Gaza Strip, the Hamas government has asked Egypt to drop restrictions on the Rafah border crossing, just days after the checkpoint opened last week. Democracy Now!’s Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar were one of the few teams of foreign journalists to witness the scene at the Rafah border, and they file this report from the Gaza Strip. A newly published study in the American Journal of Public Health estimates more than two million women have been raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2006. We speak with V-Day founder, Eve Ensler, the bestselling author and playwright behind The Vagina Monologues, about gender violence in DRC. We are also joined Christine Schuler Deschryver, director of V-Day Congo and the City of Joy, about the growing number of rape prosecutions in DRC. Democracy Now!, a daily independent newshour.
Email this pageGRITtv: Feb. 9, 2011
The revolution in Egypt at first was less about poverty and labor than it was about police brutality and the mistreatment of the people by a repressive regime. But now, Khaled Fahmy notes, the growing labor movement in Egypt is coming to the fore, following two years of concerted effort and protest by workers across the country.The protests continue, and Fahmy tells us that many of the functions of the government have been nearly completely shut down by the protesters, who remain in the streets and vow to stay until Mubarak is gone."I had the feeling it might happen," says Medea Benjamin of CodePink of the ongoing revolution in Egypt. Recently back from Cairo, Medea has been traveling through Egypt to get to Gaza for a while, and she says that the feeling in that country was of too many people angry, frustrated, and willing to fight their government to go on another 30 years without fighting back.Medea joins Laura in studio to discuss her recent experience in Egypt, including nearly being arrested at gunpoint, and having had friends detained for hours by state security forces.The revolution continues in Egypt, and in addition to creating new coalitions and partnerships as different groups come together in the streets, it's inspiring artists around the world. Jasiri X and M-1 of Dead Prez have a new track, "We All Shall Be Free," illustrated with scenes from the protests in Cairo.This weekend saw something revolutionary — not just in Egypt, but in Congo. ; The V-Day foundation , led by playwright and GRITtv guest Eve Ensler, opened its first City of Joy, a compound that will help Congolese women, many of them rape survivors, heal and learn, as V-Day puts it, to “turn their pain to power.”
GRITtv: City Of Joy is What Investing In Life Looks Like
This weekend saw something revolutionary -- not just in Egypt, but in Congo. The V-Day foundation, led by playwright and GRITtv guest Eve Ensler, opened its first City of Joy, a compound that will help Congolese women, many of them rape survivors, heal and learn, as V-Day puts it, to "turn their pain to power." The compound cost around $1 million, and hopes to graduate 180 women per year. Ensler told the New York Times, "You build an army of women," and they take power for themselves. Distributed by Tubemogul.
"Democracy Now!": Thurs. Aug. 26 2010: NYC Taxi Driver Stabbed, Eve Ensler's New Play for Katrina Anniversary, Slow UN Intervention in the Congo
A colleague of the NYC taxi driver who was stabbed in an anti-muslim attack describes what happened; Eve Ensler marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with performances of her new play "Swimming Upstream" and she reads from "Congo Cancer"; the UN is slow to respond to a gang rape of almost 200 women in the Congo. "Democracy Now!" is a daily independent newshour.
"Democracy Now!": Fri. Feb. 26 2010
As the healthcare summit ends in deadlock, single-payer advocates remain excluded. We speak to Columbia Journalism Review contributing editor Trudy Lieberman and pediatrician Dr. Margaret Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Program about it. V-Day founder Eve Ensler talks about her new book, “I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World”; and as Obama pushes “clean coal,” Jeff Biggers tracks the history of destructive mining in “Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland”. "Democracy Now!" is a daily independent newshour.
GRITtv: Fighting Rape One Victim at a Time
Dr. Denis Mukwege was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize that Barack Obama won, and his work helping victims of rape in the Congo is inspirational. His Panzi Hospital treats an average of ten women a day, providing surgery and helping women heal from their traumas physical and mental. This video from V-Day celebrates Dr. Mukwege's struggle to defeat the horrors of sexual violence. For more information, check out Congo Week's Take Action page.
GRITtv: Can We Turn Pain to Power in the Congo?
It's a heartwrenching story: more than five million dead, and rape is used to terrorize the population of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where spillover from the Rwandan conflict has led to the ongoing violence of daily life despite an official ceasefire. And minerals like coltan, used in your laptop or cell phone as well as aerospace technologies, are funding the violence. We all use cell phones and computers, but what can we do to stop supporting the horrific abuse of women and children in the Congo? Joining to discuss this are Eve Ensler, Rose Mapendo, and Kambale Musavuli, and they debate the "climate of impunity" under which rape is normalized, and the responsibility the rest of the world has to help the women in the Congo help themselves. For more information, check out Congo Week's Take Action page.
GRITtv: Oct. 21, 2009
Sometimes the struggle for basic human rights seems overwhelming. Everywhere you turn, the same corporate interests, the same apathetic or outright hostile governments--it's enough to drive social justice activists to despair. Instead of giving up, though, plenty of people figure out ways to keep going, to draw energy from the oppression and pain and to win victories against incredible odds. Today we talk to Eve Ensler, founder of V-Day and the activist behind a year-long campaign to stop the violence, Rose Mapendo, a survivor of the war who was dubbed UN "humanitarian of the year" for her work with refugees, and Kambale Musavuli, student coordinator for Friends of the Congo.
