ACLU and NYCLU Join V-Day Festival for Evening of Performance About Women in Prison

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org

Performers Include Rosario Dawson, Rosie O’Donnell, Phylicia Rashad

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union today joined V-Day in hosting Any One of Us: Words from Prison, an evening of performance telling the stories of incarcerated women and the role of violence in their lives.

“In New York State the Rockefeller Drug Laws subject thousands of women every year to the violence of the prison system – simply because they’ve committed low-level drug offenses,” said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the NYCLU. “Words from Prison will bring forth the voices of the women who are suffering under this ongoing travesty of justice.”

The event is part of the ongoing festival Until the Violence Stops: NYC, presented by V-Day, the global movement founded by playwright Eve Ensler, which aims to raise funds and awareness to combat violence against women and girls.

Any One of Us: Words from Prison is directed by Rhodessa Jones and will feature readings by Rosario Dawson, Rosie O’Donnell, Phylicia Rashad, Kimberle Crenshaw, Michael Eric Dyson, and formerly incarcerated women Kemba Smith, Betty Gale Tyson and Angela Wilson. Through readings and song, the performers will highlight the connections between violence against women and incarceration.

“Women in prison experience violence before, during and after incarceration,” said Lenora Lapidus, Director of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. “They are subjected to domestic violence, abuse by prison guards, separation from their families and denial of government benefits, including welfare, public housing and educational loans.”

The event will take place at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center Plaza, New York City this evening at 8 p.m. and will benefit the ACLU and the NYCLU.

More information is available online at www.aclu.org/wordsfromprison