Ahead of White Ribbon Day on Saturday 25 November, there is a stand outside our Chapel this week providing more information about the campaign - and tomorrow, Thursday 16 November, you’ll be able to purchase a white ribbon to demonstrate your support.
The stand is there to raise awareness of domestic abuse and the White Ribbon campaign, which aims to end men’s violence against women and girls. The reality is that most violence against women is committed by men. Violence experienced by women and girls takes many forms. Some behaviours and words may seem ‘harmless’ but normalising them ignores the short- and long-term effects on women and can lead to more extreme violence.
The first step to take to #ChangeTheStory is to understand that women and girls live with a fear of violence – and a threat of this fear of violence.
#ChangeTheStory is about reversing this narrative: #AllMenCan take an active role in stopping violence before it starts by recognising and calling out attitudes and behaviours that are harmful and constitute as violence, and lead to more extreme cases of violence.
Earlier this week, on Monday, 13 November, our Deputy Chief Executive Jon Barber and Chief Nurse Paul Morris signed a large white ribbon pledging their support for the campaign that strives to change long-established attitudes, behaviours and systems around masculinity that perpetuate gender inequality and violence against women.
Find out more about the White Ribbon campaign at https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/