White Ribbon Day 2016

Last Friday hundreds of people around the nation marched throughout their cities to help bring awareness and end violence against women.

White Ribbon Day occurred on Friday, November 25^th with states around Australia becoming a sea of white with individuals marching together as one, to stand up against violence that is continuing to threaten the lives of women.

This year, White Ribbon Australia asked for men to speak up and act on behalf of the women in their lives, as violence against women is as much a man’s issue as it is women’s.

Men are being asked to take the oath to stand up, speak out and act on preventing violence against women. Currently over 199,500 oaths have been taken, with influential men, such as Waleed Aly, paving the way in order to raise awareness of this cause.

White Ribbon Australia’s focus is on changing social norms, attitudes and inequalities that give men power, stopping violence before it occurs. This shift in attitude is likely to prevent boys and men from resulting in violence against women and thinking that it’s ok.

According to the White Ribbon website, one in three women have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse by someone known to them, with on average one woman being killed every week in Australia because of domestic violence.

This shocking statistic is not ok, a reason so many people are jumping on board the White Ribbon campaign in the hopes of witnessing a change and shift in attitude within society.

As violence is a learned behaviour, White Ribbon aims to target the source of violence to stop it at its root. This prevents the behaviour from forming changing the way people act rather than accepting the world as it is.

The reason for the white ribbon is to bring awareness to the cause. The key to the White Ribbon Social Movement is engaging men to be the ambassadors, directing the campaign message to fellow men and encouraging them to become involved and stand up for the cause.

White Ribbon is working towards achieving gender equality, to reframe masculinity and change social norms among other goals. With the help of its ambassadors, advocates and the general public that are getting involved, it is part of a larger movement not only within Australia but world wide all working towards one goal, to end violence against women.

If you’d like to be a part of the White Ribbon Australia’s movement, check out their website for more information here.