OPBSI and V-day

Violence against women and girls is widespread. One in three women will experience violence during her lifetime, most often at the hands of someone she knows. In Washington, D.C., 6 percent of all murders from 2002-2004 were a result of domestic/family violence homicides, not including child abuse. Domestic violence accounted for 27 percent of all reported violent crime victimizations in 2005. Also in 2005, the Metropolitan Police Department received 27,401 domestic-related crime calls - that is one crime every 19 minutes. These alarming numbers require our action.

On March 15, 1989, seventeen women of diverse backgrounds created an organization to empower women to fight against the injustices suffered by our gender. OPBSI’s birth resulted in eminent services throughout our communities, particularly to fight these types of injustices. An example of such services is our annual partnership with V-Day Worldwide Campaign. In 2006, OPBSI, along with community members, organized a benefit production of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, consisting of some Spanish adaptation, as part of OPBSI’s V-Day Northern Virginia 2006.

V-Day Northern Virginia 2006 was a huge success! Approximately 1,500 community members were exposed to and educated about this movement to stop violence against women and girls. Each production night brought in 600 in attendance, both men and women. $11,747.21 was raised through donations, merchandise, and ticket sales and equally donated to two beneficiaries: the Office On Women- Domestic Violence Program and the Sexual Assault Response Awareness (SARA) Program. They money enables these organizations to continue their services to families and victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

This year’s V-Day production will be held in Washington, D.C. at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3, 2007, with an open rehearsal on Thursday, March 1, 2007, at the Carlos Rosario International School (1100 Harvard Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009).

Tickets can be purchased by online:
Friday, March 2, 2007

Saturday, March 3, 2007

For reduced ticket prices for student and senior citizens, please contact VDay@OmegaPhiBeta.org.

We plan to celebrate and embrace the essence of being a woman and to increase awareness about the violence against women with particular attention to both the Spanish- and English-speaking communities in the D.C. area, by sponsoring a bilingual production of "The Vagina Monologues." To help pursue our goal of decreasing the numbers of Latina women victimized by violence in their homes and communities we will donate all profits from the production to Break the Cycle - www.BreaktheCycle.com so that they may continue to “engage, educate, and empower youth to build lives and communities free from dating and domestic violence."

To learn more about OPBSI, please visit: www.OmegaPhiBeta.Org. For more information regarding OPBSI’s involvement in V-Day, please contact VDay@OmegaPhiBeta.org