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I think that if I thought about everything, I would have freaked out.
I've never experienced anything like that weekend.
Kate Fisher was going to school in London when she learned about the situation in Juarez, Mexico. In the past decade, over 368 women and girls have been killed or disappeared in Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas. Many of the victims were raped, mutilated and tortured. One of the victims was a six-year-old girl. Despite the fact that these murders have persisted over the past decade, there has not been significant progress in providing protection to the women of Juarez or in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
In 2004, V-Day partnered with Amnesty International, other women’s groups, international labor organizations (including the AFL-CIO), and many high profile women and men in Mexico and around the world to increase the pressure to put an end to these killings. The V-Day March on Juarez to honor the missing and murdered women of Juarez, their families, and the grassroots groups took place on V-Day, February 14, 2004.
I met Kate at Love Your Tree. I was there documenting the space. I spent a few hours, so I had a chance to listen to her talking with people, answering their questions, explaining to them about V-Day and educating them about violence against women. Always patient, animated and giving, Kate was there every time I came by. For two months, each day, Kate was in attendance. Her commitment was palpable and attracting and I asked her about how she got involved...
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I knew about V-Day from when it started, 97, 98—Someone I knew was in a benefit production in London. That got me into The Vagina Monologues. I started reading the play and researching V-Day. I fell in love with the organization, the concept, everything.
So, while I had been getting V-Mail from V-Day, I knew about Juarez separately. From college and high school. It floored me—I couldn't understand how this could be happening, the whole justice system, the corruption, everything involved that goes into making “Juarez.” I just found it so amazing—it wasn't that I knew anybody there. I've never been to Texas... I had no real connection to it. I just couldn't understand it.
When the two came together, it was something—it was: I have to do this. I don't know why I have to do it. I don't know how I'm going to do it. I'm not sure if this makes sense or if it's stupid. I have to do it. I have to go to Juarez on Feb. 14.
This was about the time when my visa would run out in England so I thought—I'll just coincide the two, I'll just move to New York around February. My mother was like: no way.
It was November, and for two months, I asked everybody—Will you go with me? I have to go. I researched it and the prices aren't that bad. No one would do it.
At one point, I just bought the tickets— If I buy the tickets, then [my mother] can't say anything. I want to respect her, but I have to do this.
The whole experience was surreal—the fact that I was moving, changing location. I didn't know anybody, except one person who I didn't know that well. It was this huge shift.
When I went to Juarez, I literally dropped my bags off in New York, and two hours later flew to El Paso and went over to Juarez. I didn't know anybody at V-Day.
I had contacted the V-Day info-email about two months prior and just said: What hotel are you staying in? I'm not going with anyone and I hear it's kind of dangerous for a woman to be by herself in Juarez —I just wanted to make sure I was around people who were going to be there for the march. So, they sent me the name of the hotel. That was the first place that I went. And, I remember going in to the lobby and there were all these people just running around. I was trying to find a person who looked like they might be there with V-Day.
I saw Eve walk by and thought: she's probably not the person I should go to. I saw Susan Swan (Media and Communications Advisor for V-Day) talking with Eve quite a bit. I was going up and down, up and down, from my room to the lobby, trying to get my courage up to do something, to be a part of it, to have some authority and not just be running around aimlessly.
Eventually, I went up to Susan and told her I was wondering if I could do anything—she said: O, you're Kate from London! I was going to drama school in London and taking voice lessons, so my accent was kind of weird. She asked me for my room number, said they were doing a press conference and that she'd call me after.
I was psyched. I went back to my room and waited and eventually became starving I thought, I could wait, or I could go down and get some food.
So I was in the elevator on the way down, and Sally Field walked in. I asked her if she was here for the march, and she was—She asked me if I knew of some place to get food. I told her I was going to the restaurant. When we got to the lobby, she went the other way.
I was alone, eating in the restaurant when [Sally] came in and invited me to join her and her friends who were meeting her. The restaurant was the only place around to get food, and people just kept coming. They kept expanding the table until there were around 30 people. There I was, I was sitting next to Hibaaq Osman, (Special V-Day Representative to Africa, Asia and the Middle East) and Sally Field, who would introduce me to everyone that came over.
Susan returned introduced me to Allison Prouty (Associate Artisitic Director of V-Day), who became a good friend of mine, who I just love to death Back in New York, Allison introduced me to Eve, and again to Susan, solidifying that connection.
After Jaurez, [V-Day] went on to India and I moved back to NY, and around April, I started volunteering for V-Day.
When the Republican Convention hit NYC, that's when it got really busy at V-Day with the Vaginas Vote Campaign, the Omega/V-Day Women & Power Conference and the Vaginas Vote, Chicks Rock event at the Apollo— Susan was bombarded with stuff at the press office and Eve's office needed help so I was going between the two. In October The Good Body opened and with it the Love Your Tree space was conceived. In the beginning stages they needed a space manager, which I applied for. The budget, however, went out the window and they needed as many volunteers as possible. I work at night and thought I might as well just do the job I applied for anyway. V-Day and all of the work they do, including Love Your Tree, has always been the main point and I love it. [Love Your Tree] was one of those life-changing experiences. It was incredible.
In Juarez, you'd look around and see all these people—marching for these women that'd been murdered. There were 7000 people and there's this bridge and you had thousands of people coming over from El Paso joining the thousands of people in Juarez. Marching down, you had the mothers of the murdered women and you had people walking down the street with pictures of murdered relatives and friends. People lining the streets, a lot of them crying. Most were supporting everyone walking, but not marching because they were afraid of the repurcussions. It was amazing that that had happened and at that point, the name to attribute that to was Eve. Even though, it was everybody who works at V-Day and they're absolutely unbelievable—she was the only person [I knew] at the time. She represented this force that brought all of this together. It was so incredible and it is still so incredible.
Everyone at V-Day just blows me away. There are, I think, 8 core people and then you have all the volunteers and people throughout the world who are doing this—and, it wouldn't happen without everybody.
At Love your Tree, people told me they were touched by the play, The Good Body. Even if it had only stayed open for four weeks—If your intent is to move people into action, or to move people to just talk—then it was a success. Everyone I talked to: even people who didn't see the show, who just went to the space—it touched them.
I'm proud of the whole thing, including Love Your Tree. Going to Juarez—I'm glad I did it. I think that if I thought about everything, I would have freaked out. I've never experienced anything like that weekend.
I wish I could say I went to Juarez because of this ... but I don't know why I went.
I remember calling my mom from the hotel and saying you're not going to believe this... and, she said: You were right. |
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Shortly after this interview, Kate was hired as a part time Media and Communications Associate for V-Day. Most recently she assisted in the launch of V-Day's 2006 Spotlight: Justice to 'Comfort Women' campaign during the Beijing +10 conferences at the UN in New York City. To contact Kate please write to kate@vday.org
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