V: How Can An Authentic Apology Lead To Healing?

Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode Making Amends

The playwright V, formerly known as Eve Ensler, survived horrific sexual violence as a child. Years later, she decided to write what she needed to hear most: a true apology in the words of her abuser.

About V

V (formerly Eve Ensler) is a Tony Award-winning playwright, activist and author of the Obie Award-winning theatrical phenomenon The Vagina Monologues. Her plays include Lemonade, Extraordinary Measures, Necessary Targets, OPC, The Good Body, Emotional Creature and Fruit Trilogy. She starred in her one-woman play, In the Body of the World, adapted from her memoir. Her most recent book is The Apology.

V is the founder of V-Day, a global activist movement which, over the course of more than two decades, has raised over 100 million dollars to end violence against all women and girls—cisgender, transgender, and gender non-conforming. She is also the founder of One Billion Rising, the largest global mass action to end gender-based violence in over 200 countries.

V is a co-founder of the City of Joy, a revolutionary center for women survivors of violence in the DRC. V, along with her co-founders Christine Schuler Deschyrver and Dr. Denis Mukwege, appeared in the documentary film City of Joy, released globally as a Netflix Original in 2019.

This segment of TED Radio Hour was produced by Rachel Faulkner and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at [email protected].