Eve Ensler’s Tribute to Afghan Women is a Sold Out Success at Madison Square Garden
V-Day, the gala benefit performance of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, opened to a sold out crowd of 18,000 at Madison Square Gardens Saturday evening. Actors and musicians, including Jane Fonda (who donated $1 million to the event), Glenn Close, Marisa Tomei, Rosie Perez, Claire Danes, and Queen Latifah, performed the Monologues, raising awareness to stop violence against women. As part of the V-day festivities, Oprah Winfrey performed Ensler’s tribute to Afghan women, entitled Under the Burqa.
In 1996, the Taliban, overthrew the government of Afghanistan and unilaterally declared an end to women's basic human rights. Women can now no longer work outside of the home. Girls and women are prohibited from attending school. In addition, women are required to completely cover their bodies with a burqa including a mesh covering over the eyes. Ensler wrote Under the Burqa after visiting Afghanistan 8 months ago. During the evening, thousands of people signed petitions for the Feminist Majority’s Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan. Many in the audience wore burqa swatches as a symbol of remembrance for Afghan women and girls.
5/22/2013 Immigration Reform Bill Advances In Senate - Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping immigration reform bill in a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5. . . .
5/22/2013 Afghan Women Arrested for 'Moral Crimes' Increases 50% - A new report by the Human Rights Watch shows that in the past 18 months the number of women in Afghanistan incarcerated for 'moral crimes' has increased from 400 to 600, a 50% growth.
Many of the women imprisoned for moral crimes were arrested running away from forced or abusive marriages and families, even though there is no law against leaving. . . .
5/22/2013 Army Commander Suspended for Adultery Amid Wave of Sexual Assaults - On Tuesday, Brigadier General Bryan T Roberts was suspended from his position as commander of the Fort Jackson, South Carolina training camp which trains approximately 60% of incoming female recruits pending an investigation into allegations of adultery.
Roberts was suspended following allegations of "adultery and a physical altercation." Colonel Christian Kubik, an Army spokesperson for the Training and Doctrine Command, told reporters "We don't have any evidence of any sexual assault. . . .
