V-Day Congo: Eve Ensler Builds 'City of Joy' for Rape Victims March 8, 2011

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2011/03/02/I_Am_An_Emotional_Creature_An_Evening_with_Eve_Ensler

Eve Ensler, V-Day founder and author of The Vagina Monologues, discusses her efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to end sexual violence against women. Ensler is creating the City of Joy, a safe haven for sexually abused women and girls in the DRC. "The only way things will change in the Congo is through the women," says Ensler. "I don't believe the international will is there."

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Playwright (The Vagina Monologues, Necessary Targets, The Good Body) and author (Insecure At Last) Eve Ensler is the founder of V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that has raised more than $75 million to date and funded over 12,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic Of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq. Her newest work, I Am An Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World, is a celebration of the authentic voice inside every girl and an inspiring call to action for girls everywhere to speak up, follow their dreams, and take agency over their minds, bodies, hearts and curiosities. - Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

Eve Ensler is an American playwright, performer, feminist and activist, best known for her play The Vagina Monologues.

Ensler's The Vagina Monologues has been translated into over 45 languages and is running in theaters all over the world, including sold-out runs at both Off-Broadway's Westside Theater and on London's West End (2002 Olivier Award nomination, Best Entertainment).

Ensler has devoted her life to stopping violence, envisioning a planet in which women and girls will be free to thrive, rather than merely survive. The Vagina Monologues is based on Ensler's interviews with more than 200 women. With humor and grace, the piece celebrates women's sexuality and strength.

Ensler is the recipient of many awards including the Guggenheim Fellowship Award in Playwriting, the Berrilla-Kerr Award for Playwriting, the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, and the Jury Award for Theater at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, as well as the 2002 Amnesty International Media Spotlight Award for Leadership and The Matrix Award (2002).

She has received numerous Honorary degrees, including Doctor of Letters from her alma mater, Middlebury College.