The Vagina Monologues

Dedicated to the “comfort women,” who were kidnapped and forced into sexual enslavement by the Japanese military for over a decade, this monologue details the horrors these women faced, including disease, starvation, social stigma, suicide, violence, and poverty. They ask for the Japanese government to finally apologize for these injustices before the women are all gone.

This monologue details the trauma, violence, and government neglect that affect women following natural disasters and corruption, specifically focused on the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, 2005’s Hurricane Katrina and its impact on New Orleans, and the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the early 2000s. The monologue references children dying, the neglect of residents in rubble-filled streets, and women carrying this trauma and their communities.

A brief introduction dedicates this monologue to Myriam Merlet, who was chief of staff of the Ministry for Gender and the Rights of Women of Haiti. She brought V-Day to Haiti and was killed in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The monologue is a tribute to all Myriam has done for women and the fact that, despite the horrors that still exist in Haiti, especially after the earthquake, women call still her name and carry her legacy.