Hundreds Gather for Flashmob in NYC's Union Square to Protest Violence Against Women

This evening in New York City's Union Square, two hundred or so gathered for a macarena flashmob celebrating Eve Ensler's "1 Billion Rising", a V-Day campaign to protest violence against women. Similar events are taking place all over the world, including India, the site of recent vicious attacks. Ensler, author of "Vagina Monologues" has urged people to take time today to express solidarity with their sisters and fight a global culture in which one in three women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime.. As one celebrant from the National Orgazation for Women put it, "women's bodies are targeted for violence, but today I'm using my body just for myself -- to dance."

Women (and some men) of all shapes, colors, and sizes danced in Union Square beneath shiny red balloons, some with jewel-toned Indian scarves billowing behind them in the wind.? After the macarena dance, the crowd snaked up Broadway as a band played "When the Saints Go Marching In", right passed the iconic ABC Home store where bellydancers and others shimmied and spun in the window displays.

In the wake of shocking rapes from India to Steubenville, Ohio, there's a collective feeling that enough is enough. On a day when we think of love, there's no message more powerful than the right of women and girls to be free from violence. A finale celebration at the Hammerstein Ballroom later tonight featuring music and dance will cap today's festivities.

Source: http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/lynn-parramore/hundreds-gather-flashmob-nycs-union-square-protest-violence-against-women

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