TORONTO, ONTARIO–( EMWNews – April 1, 2008) – A team of 9 youth have put together a “Big Block Party” at Nathan Phillips Square to help end violence against women.

The Big Block Party will be held at Nathan Phillips Square on Friday April 4, 2008 beginning at 5pm. Featuring musicians, spoken word artists and poets, the event seeks to raise awareness about eliminating violence against women and is put together with the White Ribbon Campaign and Serve!

The event features an amazing and diverse line-up of artists. These include Canadian Idol finalist Kamilla Miller; Truth Is, a spoken word artist who was a finalist in the Up From the Roots’ 5th Annual Toronto International Poetry Slam; Boonaa Mohammed, winner of numerous poetry slams around Toronto and 2007 CBC poetry face-off champion. The Big Block Party will also feature folk musicians, hip- hop artists (“Stolen from Africa”), Reggae (Trinity Chris), drama and dance. MuchMusic VJ Hannah Simone is also scheduled to appear.

The event was organized by a team of youth from Serve!, an organization that works with young people in Toronto. Over the past six months, team members have worked on projects to raise awareness about violence and discrimination. For this project the team partnered with The White Ribbon Campaign, the world’s largest movement of men working to end violence against women.

“Violence against women affects everybody.” Explains Bianca Sidaravicius, a Serve! team member. “Half of Canadian women have survived at least one incident of sexual or physical violence. This issue affects women from all age groups, socioeconomic classes and cultural backgrounds. Children and youth, in particular, are witnesses in 40% of cases of violence against women. One of the main goals of the event is to raise awareness and educate youth about this issue.”

“Art can be a very powerful education tool with youth,” said Joshua Tatum, a Serve! team member, “Most youth listen to music, which means it will hit a large audience. We want youth to stand up together on this important issue.”

About The White Ribbon Campaign: The White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) is the largest effort in the world of men working to end violence against women. Established in 1991 in Canada, the White Ribbon campaign now exists in over fifty-five countries around the world. The main goal of WRC is ending violence against women in all its forms.

About Serve!: Established in 1993, Serve! offers experiential learning programs for youth aged 13-24 in full-time, after-school and summer components. Serve! engages youth in community involvement so that they can establish personal direction, overcome obstacles, achieve goals and contribute to society. Visit www.servecanada.org to find out more.