Mujeres Latinas en Accion Brings New Play to Chicago

To combat sexual assault and domestic violence in Hispanic communities, Mujeres Latinas en Accion brings “Monologos de la Vagina” to Chicago, – a Spanish-language version of Eve Ensler’s award-winning play “The Vagina Monologues.”

A special performance of “The Vagina Monologues” hopes to raise awareness en español
by Adriana Diaz Medill Reports Chicago
April 13, 2010

Vagina: written the same in English or Spanish, is a word that most people have difficulty saying out loud in any language. But a Chicago advocate for victims believes that talking about sex, frankly and unabashedly, is an important part of solving the problem of violence against women.

Maritza Reyes is the sexual assault program coordinator for Mujeres Latinas en Accion, a multiservice agency based in Pilsen that is bringing “Monologos de la Vagina” a Spanish-translated production of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues.”

The play comprises several stories that touch on themes including sex, love, rape, sexual slavery, domestic violence, masturbation and the female orgasm.

Reyes said sexual assault and domestic violence are issues that are very prevalent in Hispanic communities. “I think that we don’t speak about it. I think it’s sort of like ‘well we’ll take care of it within ourselves, we don’t need to involve other people’,” Reyes said. “And that ends up harming the child or the person that is sexually abused because they see it as the family is protecting the abuser as opposed to protecting the victim.”

It is estimated that only three in 10 rapes are reported. Providing a variety of social services, Mujeres Latinas en Accion is also one of 33 centers that constitute the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

In 2009, 28 percent of rape victims that sought first-time services from crisis centers were Latino, said Sean Black, the Coalition’s communications coordinator. About 8 percent of the county’s victims spoke Spanish only, heightening the need for bilingual awareness.

The performance is part of a global campaign run by the V-Day organization, a global non-profit founded by Ensler, the playwright of “The Vagina Monologues.” Although 26 percent of the city’s population is of Hispanic or Latino origin, the only other Spanish V-Day benefit production of the monologues held in Chicago was in 2005.

Silvana Tabares, 31, of Brighton Park, who attended an English language performance of the show in Pilsen Friday, said she truly enjoyed the show. “I am very impressed,” she said. “I enjoyed every story and I learned a lot about how women should respect themselves.”

Reyes said more than 95 percent of the agency’s clients speak Spanish only and many of them have never heard of the show. “It’s such a taboo subject in the Latino community to talk about vaginas, to talk about sex and also to talk about domestic violence and sexual assault,” she said. “So we wanted to bring it to them in a format that maybe they would be more comfortable with.”

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