Amongst a sea of candy hearts and meme-inspired Valentine’s Day cards, EMPOWER’s red felt V pins made their annual appearance Friday, Feb. 13 in  recognition of V-Day.

Marking its 17th year, V-Day is a worldwide movement to end violence against women and girls.

“I don’t think people really [realize] that [violence against women] actually happens,” said junior Mimi Walsh, EMPOWER club member.  “We’re making people aware that it actually does exist a lot more than [one] would think in our country.”

According to Amnesty International USA, one in three women will experience violence in her lifetime.

V-Day activists focus on a broad range of offenses towards women, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation, and sex slavery.

Being part of York’s faculty or student body, it’s easy to get involved in the movement.

The morning of V-Day, EMPOWER club members, along with club advisor Mrs. DiTomasso, greet students arriving through the Academic Entrance with red felt V pins.  A slip of paper goes along with each pin briefing what V-Day is about.

“I think when people wear the V’s, it gets the conversation started,” said DiTomasso.

EMPOWER’s efforts to inform are apparent all around school.  In the halls, club members hang fliers presenting some facts about violence and women, and display large spray-painted posters typically by the atrium stairwells.

Potty Presses have also been popular throughout the years.

“The Potty Presses [are] a little more personal to girls who might have been affected by violence,” said Ditomasso, “so that they know they’re not alone, and [that] there’s someone they can talk to.”

Additionally, this year the club hopes to sell wristbands, which say, “Stop the Violence,” in the Commons during lunch periods to help raise money for the V-Day campaign, Ditomasso said.

Violence against women prompted the need for V-Day, but that doesn’t mean that the movement is girls-only.

“I think that any woman in the world can tell you at one point [she has] felt harassed, or has had something worse happen to [her],” said junior EMPOWER club member Kaylee Elf.  “[But] one of the things about feminism is that it’s not just about women.”

She clarifies that feminism is mostly geared towards the empowerment of women, however, “anyone can join—anyone should join the fight,” she said.

“I’d love to see boys get involved and embrace [V-Day], and realize that they are part of the solution and not part of the problem,” added DiTomasso.  “V-Day needs to be an issue that is embraced by girls and boys, by the rich and the poor, regardless of your class, your sex, [or] your religion, because this is an issue that women face all over the world.”