The Vagina Monologues was the catalyst for a groundbreaking movement raising awareness of domestic abuse. Madeleine Reiss talks to the women behind V-Day UK

'We were worried about what we think about vaginas, and even more worried that we don't think about them. We were worried about our own vaginas. They needed a context of other vaginas... a community, a culture of vaginas. There's so much darkness and secrecy surrounding them... like the Bermuda triangle. Nobody ever reports back from there,' says Eve Ensler, the author of The Vagina Monologues.

Ensler was inspired to write the play after hearing a woman speaking derogatorily about her own vagina. Over the years that followed she interviewed women of all nationalities and ages about theirs. 'I talked to over two hundred women… At first women were reluctant to talk. They were a little shy. But once they got going you couldn't stop them,' she says. And The Vagina Monologues was born.

Once the show was staged, Ensler was struck by the audience's reaction; women would flock to tell her of their own 'vagina' experiences. As a result, she joined forces with a group of activists and the movement called V-Day was born. It aims to raise awareness of and end violence against women as well as raise money for the V-Day Fund, which supports local and global organisations working to put a stop to the violence.

For seven weeks each year, starting on Valentine's Day, the campaign gives groups of women the chance to produce their own versions of The Vagina Monologues. These performances not only raise awareness of abuse but raise money for local charities dealing with violence against women. Events culminate in a big V-Day bash in April - a celebrity event which features the best of the local performances.

For those involved with the first V-Day UK, it was a real labour of love. Sponsors and agents who were approached to get the first show off the ground hastily retreated, muttering about marketability of the 'V' word. Vaginas, it seemed, would not sell.

Vaginas, it seemed, would
not sell

Chrissie Tiller, the co-producer of V-Day, talks about how disillusioned she became in the early days. 'People couldn't understand the concept. Lots of agents would make excuses about availability. The companies we approached would be initially excited, but when they got to board level they would back out saying they just couldn't take it on. It was the vagina word. They couldn't go there,' she says.

Even in America, where high profile actresses such as Meryl Streep and Whoopi Goldberg have championed the event, V-Day was treated with much initial unease. One television station tried to produce a show about The Vagina Monologues without once using the word 'vagina'.

Tamsin Larby, who also produces V-Day, says they were unable to raise any serious sponsorship the first time around. 'You would say the word 'vagina' and there would be this long silence. They would ask you to repeat it, even spell it, because they couldn't believe their ears. Maureen Lipman, who has been in the show, couldn't quite face telling her mother that she was performing in The Vagina Monologues, so it became the Angina Chronicles instead!'

It was not only the subject matter that worried people, it was also the play's connections with charities that support women experiencing violence. In the last three years V-Day has donated millions of dollars to organisations committed to stopping violence against women. The first V-Day UK took place in 1999 at the Old Vic in London with a celebrity cast of actors including Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Meera Syall and Melanie Griffith. It raised over £75,000.

'We had a huge struggle to put the play on and to get any coverage', says Larby. 'There is a huge social stigma attached to domestic violence, despite the fact that it is something that happens right across the board - it is not specific to class or race.'

Recent UN statistics show that one in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in their lifetime. For Davina James-Hanman, director of the Greater London Domestic Violence Project and one of the beneficiaries of V-Day, the arts have a real role to play in raising awareness, overcoming taboos and communicating the truth about violence.

'The more we raise awareness and understanding of the issues the better, because the lack of intervention and the social tolerance that exists around violence against women is one of the major reasons for its continuance.' She adds, 'A performance of The Vagina Monologues gives women who are experiencing violence a convenient hook to raise the topic in a neutral way with friends and relatives. They can gauge what the response might be were they to tell the reality of their own lives.'

Part of the on-going success of The Vagina Monologuesis the way it appeals directly to audiences. During performances, Ensler often asks how many women in the theatre have witnessed, or been directly involved in, domestic or sexual violence. On average two thirds of the audience stand up. Once the play gets going, female theatregoers lose some of their inhibitions about the 'v' and 'c' words, presumably because the content is something they can all relate to. Tiller says, 'There are certain points in the play when facts about the vagina are stated. When the actress says that there are 8000 nerve endings in the clitoris, twice as many as there are in the penis, the audience frequently respond by chanting the fact aloud. They feel part of a shared experience.'

Although the play often deals with painful and horrific situations, it is above all a celebration of being a woman and the power of creativity. For many of those involved in the project, it's had an enormous impact on their lives. 'Working on V-Day has changed my life,' says Larby. 'It has made me look at issues around valuing myself and also at the issues at the very heart of the play - the sense that we are ashamed of our vaginas at some level.'

For Tiller much of the joy of the work comes from the enthusiasm of young women around the world who are keen to become involved. 'Some young women said they didn't want to talk about post-feminism because it didn't mean anything to them. I realised that this was because, for them, so many things still haven't changed. Young women still want to empower themselves and they do care about the issues that during all those years of Thatcherism seemed to get lost. There is a whole new generation out there wanting to carry on, and I find that hopeful and encouraging.'

If you want to produce your own V-Day, become involved in a V-Day production or support the campaign in any way you can access information here.