V-Day 2008 Spotlight:

The Women of New Orleans and the Gulf South

Each year V-Day creates a Spotlight around a particular group of women who are experiencing violence and resisting it with courage and vision. The goal of the spotlight is to put a worldwide media spotlight on the issue, and to raise funds and awareness to aid groups who are working on it.

V-Day's 2008 Spotlight Campaign focuses on the Women of New Orleans and the Gulf South. These women - Katrina Warriors - have come to symbolize the universal plight of women in conflict zones-- high levels of violence; economic hardship; racism; and public structures that failed to protect them. Katrina Warriors also highlight the dire need for resources to this still devastated community.

After witnessing the challenges facing the women of post-Katrina New Orleans, V-Day began working together with service providers, first-responders, artists, educators, activists and local V-Day organizers to create The Katrina Warrior Network. This will be a community of grassroots groups dedicated to helping women and girls living in New Orleans or returning there to rebuild their lives.

The Spotlight Campaign will raise funds to ensure lasting impact on the ground. The disbursement of funds will be determined by the needs of women in New Orleans and will be directed toward sustainable, long-term projects that will have maximum impact and fuel growth for women in businesses. We will be targeting projects that economically empower the Women of New Orleans and the Gulf South, focusing on self- sustaining businesses that are improving the economy of women as well as spreading, increasing and sustaining their wealth.

V-Day first took aim at wartime sexual violence with the 2002 Spotlight: Afghanistan Is Everywhere, followed by the 2005 Spotlight: Women of Iraq: Under Siege, 2006 Spotlight: Justice for Comfort Women, and the 2007 Spotlight: Women In Conflict Zone.