A billion to join dance against rape

Thursday's worldwide event is to be a 'feminist tsunami' against violence

On Valentine's Day this Thursday, one billion people across the planet will join a "feminist tsunami" by dancing to raise awareness at the shocking numbers of women and girls who are raped or abused in their lifetime.

The brainchild of campaigner Eve Ensler, the One Billion Rising movement – referring to the number of women and young girls alive today who will be raped or attacked – is supported by Jane Fonda and Robert Redford in the United States, as well as by high-profile women in the UK. Women in 190 countries have already signed up, including 25 million in Bangladesh.

On Thursday the actress Thandie Newton will lead a flashmob of dancers outside Parliament. MPs, led by Stella Creasy for Labour and Amber Rudd for the Conservatives, will debate a motion calling for new laws to make personal, social and health education, including a zero-tolerance approach to violence and abuse in relationships, a requirement in schools. Ms Creasy said it was time for women of her generation to "pick up where our mothers' generation left off" and that sometimes it was as if feminism had taken a "step back". Here are the voices of just eight of the one billion...