V-Day is a global movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sex slavery. In 2010 more than 5400 V-Day events took place around the world. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over £50 million and educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it, crafted international educational and media campaigns, reopened shelters, and funded over 5000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses.

In 2007, V-Day (in partnership with UNICEF) launched the global campaign Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource: Power To The Women And Girls Of The Democratic Republic of Congo that is:

Raising awareness about the level of sexual violence in the DRC, the root economic causes of the war and the historical context.

Advocating for Change on local, provincial, national, and international levels.

Providing Support to activists in the DRC and around the globe who are working to end the atrocities and change perceptions about sexual violence.

Creating the City of Joy. V-Day’s goal is to provide necessary resources and support for women to rebuild and transform their lives. A centrepiece of the campaign is to support community reintegration for survivors of rape, specifically those who face extreme challenges in returning home due to community rejection and trauma. V-Day and UNICEF in partnership with Panzi Foundation are currently building a special facility for the survivors of sexual violence.

Conceived, created and developed by the women on the ground, the City of Joy in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo will support women survivors of sexual violence to heal and provide them with opportunities to develop their leadership. The City of Joy will provide up to 180 women a year with an opportunity to benefit from: group therapy; storytelling; dance; theatre; self-defence; comprehensive sexuality education (covering HIV/AIDS, family planning); ecology and horticulture; and economic empowerment.

The City of Joy will provide women a place to heal emotionally as they rebuild their lives, turn their pain to power, and return back into their communities to lead.