V-Day @ Loyola
V-Day is a national day of action, held on many college campuses across the nation. It is co-sponsored by the Women's Issue Organization and the Women's Resource Center. We dedicate our efforts to the memory those New Orleans women who have been killed by their intimate partners, and the countless women and children who experience domestic and sexual violence today.
V-Day is an organized response against violence toward women.
V-Day is a vision. We see a world where women live safely and freely.
V-Day is a demand. Rape, incest, battery,and genital mutilation must
end now.
V-Day is a spirit. We believe that women should spend their lives creating
and thriving rather than survivingor recovering from terrible atrocities.
V-Day is a catalyst. By raising money and consciousness, it will unify
and strengthen existing anti-violence efforts. Triggering far-reaching
awareness, it will lay the groundwork for new educational, protective
and legislative endeavours throughout the world.
V-Day is a process. We will work as long as it takes. We will not stop
until the violence stops.
V-Day is a day. We proclaim Valentine's Day as V-Day, to celebrate women
and to end the violence.
V-day is a fierce, wild, unstoppable movment and community.
To learn more, go to our website: www.vday.org
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For more information about domestic and sexual violence click here
The Facts about Violence Against Women
Fact #1: One of every four reported rapes take place in a public area or in a parking garage. (ViolenceAgainst Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)
Fact #2: 31% of female victims reported that the offender was a stranger. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)
Fact #3: An overwhelming majority of rape service agencies believe that public education about rape, and expanded counseling and advocacy services for rape victims would be effective in increasing the willingness of victims to report rapes to the police. (Rape in America, 1992, National Victim Center withCrime Victims Research and Treatment Center.)
Fact #4: The FBI estimates that only 37% of all rapes are reported to the police. U.S. JusticeDepartment statistics are even lower, with only 26% of all rapes or attempted rapes being reported tolaw enforcement officials.
Fact #5: Somewhere in America, a woman is raped every 2 minutes. (National Crime VictimizationSurvey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.)
Fact #6: In 1995, 354,670 women were the victims of a rape or sexual assault. (National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.)
Fact #7: Over the last two years, more than 787,000 women were the victims of a rape or sexual assault. (National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.)
Fact #8: It is estimated that 72 of every 100,000 females in the United States were raped last year. (Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Statistics, 1996.)
Fact #9: Approximately 28% of victims of sexual violence are raped by their husbands or boyfriends, 35% by acquaintances, and 5% by other relatives. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)
Fact #10: In 1994-1995, only 251,560 rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement officials -- less than one in every three. (National Crime Victimization Survey, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.)
Fact #11: 68% of rapes occur between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)
Fact #12: At least 45% of rapists are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)
Fact #13: In 29% of rapes, the offender uses a weapon. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)
Fact #14: In 47% of rapes, the victim sustained injuries other than rape injuries. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)
Fact #15: 75% of female rape victims require medical care after the attack. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)
Fact #16: Approximately one-third of all juvenile victims of sexual abuse cases are children younger than 6 years of age. (Violence and the Family, Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, 1996.)
Fact #17: According to the Justice Department, one in two rape victims are under age 18; one in sixare under age 12. (Child Rape Victims, 1992. U.S. Department of Justice.)
Fact #18: About 81% of rape victims are white; 18% are black; 1% are of other races. (Violence Against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)
Fact #19: About half of all rape victims are in the lowest third of income distribution; half are in the upper two-thirds. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)
Fact #20: Two new studies of adolescent girls have found that 1 in 4 has been sexually or physically abused or forced by a date to have sex against her will. (New York Times, 10/1/97.)
Fact #21: 18% of girls in grades 5 through 12 report some form of physical or sexual abuse, more than half of which was perpetrated by a family member. (Commonwealth Fund 1997.)
Fact #22: In 1995 more than 180,000 calls were made to 911 for family disputes in New York City. (NY Police Department 1995 Statistics.)
Fact #23: The total annual cost of domestic violence to NYC residents is $500 million. This includes the costs of emergency room visits, law enforcement, court action detention, homelessness, and foster care, as well as the money that employers lose to reduced worker productivity, increased turnover, and absenteeism. (NYC Statistics from the 1996 Report of the Commission on Domestic Violence)
Fact #24: Domestic violence occurs in approximately 25-33% of same-sex relationships. (NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, October 1996.)
Fact #25: Boys who witness their fathers' violence are 10 times more likely to engage in spouse abuse in later adulthood than boys from non-violent homes. (Family Violence Interventions for the JusticeSystem, 1993)
Fact #26: In a recent survey by the Kenyan Women Rights Awareness Program, 70% of the men and women interviewed said they knew neighbors who beat their wives. Nearly 60% said women were to blame for the beatings. Just 51% said the men should be punished. (The New York Times, 10/31/97)
Fact #27: Somewhere in America a woman is battered, usually by her intimate partner, every 15 seconds. (UN Study On The Status of Women, Year 2000)
Fact #28: A University of Pennsylvania research study found that domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to low-income, inner-city Philadelphia women between the ages of 15 to 44 Ñ more common than automobile accidents, mugging and rapes combined. In this study domestic violence included injuries caused by street crime.
Fact #29: There are at least 4 million reported incidents of domestic violence against women every year.
Fact #30: 22 to 35% of women who visit emergency rooms are there for injuries related to on-going abuse.
Fact #31: Medical expenses from domestic violence total at least $3 to $5 billion annually.
Fact #32: In over half of the states in the United States, under many circumstances it is legal for a husband to rape his wife.
Fact #33: At least 60 million girls who would otherwise be expected to be alive are "missing" from various populations, mostly in Asia, as a result of sex-selective abortions, infanticide or neglect. (UN On The Status of Women, Year 2000)