Anonymous for the Voiceless
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Anonymous for the Voiceless (AV) is a grassroots animal rights organization specializing in street activism formed in April 2016 in Melbourne, Australia.[1][2] They hold Cube of Truth actions throughout hundreds of locations across the world, spreading awareness for veganism. It is not directly affiliated to the hacktivist group "Anonymous", despite the similarities of names and the use of the Guy Fawkes mask.
Influences
The joint founders, Asal Alamdari and Paul Bashir, cited a UK vegan activist group 'The Earthlings Experience'[3] as inspiration for their street actions, both in an online interview[4] and on the AV website,[5] which also cites the Martin Luther King quote: Template:Quote
Cube of Truth
The Cube of Truth is an outreach and education method in which a group of black-clad people wearing Guy Fawkes masks form a square facing outward while holding signs and video screens showing footage of inside slaughterhouses, farms, and vivisection labs.[6][7] The cubes vary in size according to the number of activists or space.[1] Unmasked members of AV, known as "outreachers",[1] talk to people onlooking and encourage adopting a vegan lifestyle. The AV activists offer a 22-day vegan challenge called "Challenge 22" to onlookers who decide they want to take the option of a vegan diet.[2]
Actions
The Melbourne group's actions began in April 2016, to be followed by a Sydney group from November.[2] By June 2017, AV had carried out over 348 demonstrations globally, having convinced at least 12,144 bystanders "to take the needless violence in their diets and lifestyles seriously."[2] By now (May 2019) AV has over 1,000 chapters worldwide and has hosted over 14,000 events in 974 cities, having convinced more than 440,000 bystanders to "make the connection".
Cube actions are meant to be peaceful actions, in order to convince the greatest number of people.[8]
Organization
Anonymous for the Voiceless are a grassroots effort with no central organizing force beyond a website that links to each chapter and a series of Facebook groups that coordinate events.[7] There are over 800 chapters globally – to be considered an active chapter at least one Cube of Truth demo must be held a month, so there are estimated to be 9,600 of these cubes a year.[9]
Anonymous for the Voiceless holds an abolitionist stance on animal exploitation,[9] opposing all animal use by humans including the use of service animals to assist those with disabilities. Activists that bully or harass and do not comply with the group's principles are not permitted to carry the group's name.[9]
Paul Bashir and Asal Alamdari founded the original group in Melbourne,[2] also creating a nonprofit organisation,[10] although its headquarters are now in Chiang Mai, Thailand.[1][2]
References
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