Valentine's Day rally to raise awareness of violence against women

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - The fight to stop violence against women will be highlighted around the world on Valentine’s Day this year, and organizers are hoping that there will be a strong turnout for events being held that day right here in western Massachusetts.

A group called Western MA Rising is organizing awareness rallies on February 14, which is part of a larger global effort called One Billion Rising.

Noontime events are being held at Tower Square in Springfield and at the UMass Fine Arts Center in Amherst. A 6:00 event is being held at Spice in Pittsfield.

There is hope that some 1 billion women worldwide will show up to the thousands of events that are being planned for that day.

Organizers at a preview event in Springfield on Thursday told 22News that in the course of their lifetime, one in three women worldwide will be beaten or raped.

The local events are being sponsored by organizations such as the Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts and Safe Passage. That organization's director, Marianne Winters, told 22News that they're also starting a new initiative to encourage people to say something to raise awareness about the problem of violence against women, or to provide comfort to those who are victims.

"The message is no matter who you are, who you work for, no matter what you do in you life, who you're elected by, there's something you can say and something you can do," Winters said.

To find out more, go to onebillionrising.org , or you can follow Western MA Rising on Twitter .