One Billion Rising Kosovo gathered men and women in Striking, Dancing and Rising at an outdoor street party at the plateau near the Grand Hotel in Pristina.

     On Friday, 14 Feb. men and women in Kosova stood up and danced, calling for an end to violence against women and girls. President Jahjaga and her staff joined this year’s event.

     The event included the traditional dance of One Billion Rising. NGO Artpolis also performed a play called “Justice for Women”. It depicted several unresolved cases of domestic violence,   bringing them to the attention of the courts.

     “This is the best way to protest and raise our voice,” said a participant.

    One Billion Rising in Kosova was organized by a coalition of NGOs and individuals (including Kosova Women’s Network, Artpolis, Alter Habitus, Oda Haliti and Bleona Foniqi) and was supported by Kvinna till Kvinna and UNDP.

      One Billion Rising is a global campaign to end violence against women, rise for justice and promote gender equality. It started in 2012 as part of the V-Day movement. One Billion Rising andV-Day campaigns were launched by playwright Eve Ensler, creator of “The Vagina Monologues”. The campaign highlights the startling statistic that one in every three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in their lifetimes. In 2012, the One Billion Rising campaign culminated in the biggest mass global action to end violence against women ever with tens of thousands of events held in more than 190 countries.

     In 2014 OBR was held in 207 countries.