The City will host a community outreach event as part of its annual recognition of V -Day, the global activist movement to end violence against all women (cisgender, transgender, and those who hold fluid identities that are subject to gender-based violence), girls and the planet. The City will distribute materials to help to promote a message of consent with its “Only Yes Means Yes” public awareness campaign, distribute drink-spiking test strips, share domestic violence awareness information and human trafficking prevention and awareness information as well as general safety information and resources. Participants will include members of the West Hollywood City Council; the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s West Hollywood Station; Block by Block Security Ambassadors; LA LGBT Center’s WeHo Life; members of the City of West Hollywood’s Women’s Advisory Board, Public Safety, other public officials as well as City staff members. Participants will pass out awareness and prevention materials at various nightlife locations in the city. Members of the public are invited to stop by and pick up materials.
Drink-spiking test strips are designed to detect the possible presence of “date rape” drugs, such as GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) or ketamine. Outreach staff from the WeHo Life program began test-strip distribution efforts in October 2022 to inform and educate community members and businesses that drink-spiking test strips are a tool for personal safety that can be used anywhere at any time.
First launched in 2016, the #onlyYes campaign is a public-awareness campaign to encourage people in the community to be more aware of sexual assault and to promote a message of consent.
For over 20 years the City has participated in V-Day. V-Day was founded on the belief that when art and activism come together, they have the power to transform systems and change culture. Founded by V (formerly Eve Ensler), activist and author of the The Vagina Monologues, V-Day has inspired women all over the world and raised collective consciousness about how violence and gender intersect. V-Day is a movement and an example of how the power of art can be used as a liberating tool for transformational holistic education and social justice. www.vday.org
Contact: For more information, please contact Larissa Fooks, LFooks@weho.org or call (323) 848-6413
