While Thursday’s V-Day rising in Cheyenne did not have as large of a turnout as originally anticipated, people still showed to further the movement to end violence against women.
“Only about 20 people joined us for the flash mob and then we had about 30 people march with us to the Capitol building and then we had about 50 people total at the Capitol,” Shelly Montgomery said.
Montgomery is the Cheyenne Coordinator for One Billion Rising, the organization that is responsible for the global V-Day events.
One Billion Rising is an international organization that has held “risings” every year for 15 years as part of a global movement to end violence against women. Each year, the risings are held on Feb. 14, known as V-Day to members of One Billion Rising.
The risings began in 1998, after Eve Ensler, a playwright who wrote “The Vagina Monologues,” gathered women in New York City to start the event and make a stand against violence against women.
Montgomery originally expected to have about 200 to 300 people come to the rising, but says the cold weather affected attendance, especially for those who were travelling from across the state.
“It really wasn’t about how many people showed up for the event, it was about the commitment of the people who turned out,” Montgomery said.
The rising consisted of speakers from around Wyoming, including some legislators, and two separate flash mobs, one at the Cheyenne Depot Plaza and one at the Capitol building.
The purpose of the flash mob was to mainly grab people’s attention, Montgomery said. One of the songs that was used for the flash mob was “Break the Chain,” which is the official song of One Billion Rising. There was a choreographed dance to the song, but Montgomery said people were encouraged to take part regardless of if they knew the dance or not.
“We didn’t want to discourage people from participating if they didn’t know the dance,” she said. “We just wanted them to come and dance and express themselves freely.”
Topics that were discussed included molestation, bullying, and rape culture and how the majority of the rape cases that were reported in Wyoming within the last year were not convicted.
“One of our speakers was raped in Wyoming and when she reported it nothing was done about it because she had been drinking at the time and there was judgment passed that it was her fault,” Montgomery said.
Within the last year there were only a handful of rape cases that were convicted out of the large amount that was reported.
“Only about 130 cases were actually convicted and there was actually a staggering number of cases that were reported,” Montgomery said.
To lay to rest some stereotypes that are often associated with rape, the poem “My Short Skirt” by Eve Ensler was also read at the event. An excerpt from the poem reads, “My short skirt is not an invitation, a provocation, an indication that I want it or give it or that I hook.”
“The poem basically says that no matter what women are wearing they are not asking to be raped,” Montgomery said.
Wage inequality between men and women was also a topic of discussion — Wyoming comes in last in the country’s wage equality rankings.
“About 25 percent of all Wyoming households are headed by women, and still women only make about 37 percent of what men do in Wyoming for doing the same job,” Montgomery said.
One of the speakers from the Cheyenne Interfaith Council, Rabbi Harley Karz-Wagman even discussed possibly organizing workshops and classes for recognizing abuse.
“I think it’s great and that it will really empowered people within different faith communities,” Montgomery said. “This is almost opposite of what a lot of faith communities do as a lot try to cover up abuse.”
While the ages of the attendees ranged from high school aged women to retired women, Montgomery said she was excited to see so many young women participating.
“One of the coolest things was seeing all these young women who have never dealt with any kind of activism before showing up for this event,” Montgomery said. “It’s so great to see this generation of women who are on fire.”
While the Cheyenne chapter of One Billion Rising does not have a definitive plan for future events, Montgomery says the group is hoping to get an earlier start on next year’s event.
