The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) will invite the local community to help make a stand on violence against women next week as part of a world-wide campaign on the issue.
The One Billion Rising for Justice (VDay) event on Friday February 14 will see millions of people around the world joining together to demand an end to acts of violence against women and young girls.
On the day, UCLan will join with members of the public inside the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre for a group dance led by instructor and World Salsa Dance champion Phil Kaila and Salsa Northwest.
Also attending and taking part will be local politicians as well as staff from local emergency services and representatives from the Prince’s Trust.
The Preston gathering, organised by the UCLan Creative Communities Group (CCGUK), will take place from 12.30pm – 1.30pm and members of the public can arrive on the day at the centre to take part.
The One Billion and Rising campaign is held across hundreds of countries around the world each year to heighten awareness of violence against women and young girls. In addition it also looks to address other issues such as worker exploitation, poverty, racism, refugee rights and transphobia.
On the day itself, people are encouraged to gather in places of safety, such as schools and places of worship and make a stand, particularly on the alarming statistic that one in three women will be beaten or raped in their lifetime ( Source : Onebillionrising.org - https://www.onebillionrising.org/about/campaign/one-billion-rising/). With the world population at seven billion, this adds up to more than one billion women and girls.
In Preston, over 4,000 women and girls aged between 16 and 59 have suffered from domestic violence ([source: Preston Domestic Violence Services - https://www.pdvs.org.uk/ )
Nigel Farnworth, UCLan Creative Communities Group (CCG) manager who is helping to organise the gathering, commented: “We are delighted to be supporting what is becoming an increasingly important campaign each year on a global scale.
“We want to invite all members of the local community to come along on the day to dance, sign and stand together in demanding an end to violence against women and girls.”
People are free to turn up on the day at the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre on UCLan’s Preston Campus, which sits behind Foster Building. Anyone wanting more information can contact Nigel Farnworth on NFarnworth4@uclan.ac.uk or by calling 01772 894707.
The event will be filmed and then shared on the One Billion Rising website along with others from across the world.
Discover more about the One Billion Rising movement by visiting http://www.onebillionrising.org.uk/ or follow @VDAY on Twitter. For more information about the UCLan Creative Communities Group visit http://www.ccguk.org/ Twitter @ccg_uk