One Billion Rising ~ Video Opportunity!

So this blog is two-fold; first, musings on One Billion Rising and this year's theme of Gardening, secondly the opportunity for YOU to get involved and appear in a video I'm putting together for this year's campaign - details on the video below...

One Billion Rising

"One Billion Rising is the biggest mass action to end violence against women (cisgender, transgender, and those who hold fluid identities that are subject to gender-based violence) in human history. The campaign, which launched on Valentine’s Day 2012, began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS."

The campaign runs from 14th Feburary to International Women's Day on 8th March. This year the theme links to mother earth and how we cannot protect girls/womxn from all forms of violence without also protecting the planet and its resources which are essential for all life. This theme sees the destruction of mother earth as a parallel to gender-based violence. It links to gardening - where the act of gardening is a rebellion, because:

• The focus is on giving, not taking
• It provides autonomy when we grow food
• It is the opposite of capitalism by connecting communities, and connecting people to the earth
• It requires patience, creativity, love, and care

​“Rising Gardens are a defiant creative call for revival, restoration and transformation. They are, in many ways, a compassionate call for justice – because one of the greatest injustices of our time has been the destruction and eradication of Mother Earth, parallel to the ongoing and escalating gender-based violence. We cannot keep the ongoing extraction of women’s labour and earth’s produce, with no gratitude to both. We must honor and protect the Earth and women in order for any future life to exist.”  ~  One Billion Rising

Violence against womxn and girls takes place in different guises, in different places, and at different times, all over the world and throughout history. This campaign is really important to me. So many womxn have experienced violence in my own circles, let alone the wider world. The impact this has on an individual can be huge, not only at the time, but for years, and even a lifetime later. It takes a lot of courage to get through an act of violence, let alone talk about it, process it and rise above it. But so many do, at their own pace. I take my hat off to all of them. These often silenced (and self-silenced) voices are the ones we need to hear. We need to learn. We need to do better. I say 'we' because this is not about victim and perpetrator. This is about community. Society. Us all.

From the tiniest seeds we plant (think gender stereotyped toys, expectations, messages from the media) with our children and our society, bigger attitudes and biases grow. The root of violence towards womxn, a lot of the time, comes down to attitudes, which come down to beliefs. Children learn by watching, by listening, and by copying. As adults we role-model what is ok and what is not ok. Every time a child sees a man speak for a womxn, every time a child sees a womxn apologise for herself, every time a child sees an adult speaking or behaving in a transphobic, homophobic, or sexist manner, that child learns that 'those people' see womxn 'that way' ... based on these sorts of experiences, children will decide whether they are one of 'those people'. And this could be female-identifying children, who start to see themselves 'that way' and become wary of 'those people', thus hiding who they are, and trying to squeeze themselves into a box they don't fit into. This is where the copying comes in - if children behave like 'those people' and are not called out on it, they learn that it's ok behave in this way. If female-identifying children start limiting themselves and becoming passive, and then this is rewarded, they will learn that this is the way to be.

It's our role as adults to model what we want for womxn, and for future generations. It's men's role to show respect, to stand up for womxn and to promote equality. It's womxn's job to model all the different ways we can be womxn; to show the possibilities, to show the diverse examples of womxn - and also to be kind to other womxn. What a toxic world we paint for children when as womxn we put other womxn down instead of lifting each other up.

The same applies for the planet too; if we cannot nurture the earth which provides for us in the most basic of forms, how can we nurture ourselves and each other? It comes down to respect. Respecting those who provide for us. Respecting fellow humans. Respecting ourselves. Therefore teaching this to our children so it can survive us into the generations that follow. We need to ask ourselves: what are our words - and our actions - teaching the children around us about the world, others, and themselves?

Video Opportunity

 I want to make a short and simple video to accompany my blog and I would love for you to participate! 

It will be along the lines of the ‘pass the ball’ type videos you’ve probably seen doing the rounds since lockdown first began.

All you need is a smartphone, and it's simple to take part! 

Anyone can take part, regardless of gender identity or age.

All that’s required is:

• A video of you
• The usable part no longer than 20 seconds
• Shot in landscape (oriented as you would view a TV screen)
• Shot in enough light to make you and your message visible
• A short message you want to say about the topic of violence towards womxn, destruction of the planet, etc written on your hands in marker (dark enough to be read easily on the screen)
• Each video file titled the name of the person in it
• Fill out the consent form (Google Docs) here https://forms.gle/anr8LcRsvXAdjdzj7 
  
  

For the content of the video:

• You need to start with your hands in ‘prayer’ so close to the camera that they completely obscure the camera/it goes dark/black
• You slowly bring your hands away from the camera as they open out, showing your palms to the camera
• Hold them there for 5 seconds for your message to be read
• Bring your hands to prayer where they are
• Bring the prayer hands back to your chest/heart
• Move the prayer out to the camera to obscure it again
• Watch the example here https://youtu.be/_kr1FyxdAKc 
• There will be background music, so don’t worry about background noise in your video
  
  

Message inspiration: 

• What you're saying 'no' to 
• What you rise against​​
• What you stand for
• What you want to see
• What you want for womxn / girls
• Inequalities and injustices you want to highlight
• What you want to grow / nurture
• Parallels you draw between peace/nurturing/love and gardening/growing

Please send the video to me either by email zocowellness@gmail.com or facebook / instagram messenger @ZoCoWellness Don’t forget to fill out the consent form here:  https://forms.gle/anr8LcRsvXAdjdzj7 

Submissions must be received by 21st February 2021.

Finally - share the love! Invite anyone you think may be interested to take part. I'll include as many people as I can!

Follow all aspects of the campaign using these hashtags and the One Billion Rising website...https://www.onebillionrising.org/   #1billionrising, #riseinsolidarity, #RiseResistUnite 
#RiseGardenResist      #RisingGardens      #RisingWorld