Woodland Women in Black stand in silent vigil to protest war, human rights abuses, and the continued use of violence. We are silent because no words can express the tragedy that wars and hatred bring. Our silence is visible.
     We invite men and women to stand with us and in solidarity with women the world over to reflect about ourselves and all women who have been victims of violence. We wear black as a symbol of sorrow for all victims of war—the child soldiers and their child victims, for the destruction of families, nature, and the fabric of life.
     Before the vigil begins, we often gather in a circle to make any announcements and to center our thoughts with a reading. Then we take our position in a straight line on the edge of the sidewalk. We do not block pedestrian or vehicular traffic. Once in line we are silent; we don't react to passersby. Some of us use the time to pray or meditate or to otherwise reflect.
     Women in Black is an international peace network. Israeli women started women in Black vigils in 1988 as a response to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian homeland. It is fitting that Woodland Women in Black has sprung up in response to American occupation of Iraq.
     Women In Black was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and received the Millennium Peace Prize in 2001, in recognition of the power of women’s grassroots groups to incite global change. Women in Black groups have formed in many countries around the world and in many cities in the United States since September 11th.

     Woodland Women in Black holds vigils at the intersection of highways SS and O, between the highway and the service road that runs in front of County Market in Rice Lake.. For more information, please see our calendar of events.

Our Purpose: Women In Black is about building bridges across differences and borders, based on a shared perspective that we and other women create.

What can WIB achieve? Demonstrating together can give us a sense of solidarity and purpose as women. We can encourage and lend support to other women around the world who are often closer to the violence. And we can education, inform and influence public opinion so try to make war an unthinkable option.

Our Vision: We stand because we want a world of peace and tolerance in which the dignity of each individual is respected.

Our Mission:
We stand in public witness to lives and hopes lost due to violence.
We stand in solidarity in our support of human rights and civil liberties.
We stand in support of nonviolent solutions to conflict.

Our Goal is to call attention to the futility of the cycle of oppression, violence, retaliation, and escalation that plagues the Middle East and other areas in our world. We advocate for the right of all humans to live safely on this planet. We strongly encourage our community to become better informed about world issues and to actively advocate for non-violent conflict resolution, making war an unthinkable option in the 21st century.

     Women in Black is a loose network of women worldwide committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to war and other forms of violence. It is not an organization, but a means of mobilization and a formula for action.
     The international movement of Women in Black began in Jerusalem in January 1988, one month after the first Palestinian intifada broke out, with a small group of Israeli women who carried out a simple form of protest: Once a week at the same hour and in the same location - a major traffic intersection - they donned black clothing and raised a black sign in the shape of a hand with white lettering that read "Stop the Occupation".
     The idea spread quickly and spontaneously to other places in Israel. It was a simple form of protest that women could do easily. We didn't have to get to the big city, we could bring our children, there was no chanting or marching, and the medium was the message. Within months, vigils sprang up throughout Israel.
     Several months after the first Women in Black vigil in Israel, "solidarity vigils" began in other countries: Initial reports came from the United States and Canada, and these later spread to Europe and Australia.
     Women in Black has become a movement of women of conscience of all denominations and nationalities who hold vigils to protest violence in their part of the world: war, interethnic conflict, militarism, the arms industry, racism, neo-Nazism, violence against women, violence in the neighborhoods, etc. Each vigil is autonomous, setting its own policy and guidelines, though in all the vigils the women dress in black, symbolizing the tragedy of the victims of violence. What unites us all is our commitment to justice and a world free of violence.
     A worldwide movement ... It is impossible to know how many women there are who identify with Women in Black, how many groups or mailing lists exist, or how many actions have been held. Certainly it has become a worldwide movement.
     Women In Black is a loose network of women worldwide that actively oppose war and other forms of violence. Women In Black is a movement to turn despair into positive action. In the tradition of Women In Black protests we are women representing the power of nurturing and love. Women, as mothers and caretakers in our collective human history, have had to bear the burdens imposed due to violence and war. We stand as silent witnesses to the horrors happening in our world and wear black as a symbol of mourning. We mourn the loss of life, all life that is impacted by deliberate violence.