White Ribbon Australia began 2023 focusing strongly on our ongoing work to connect men and boys to the issue of increasing women’s safety and taking accountability for primary prevention of violence.
In the period January to February, we were excited to complete our pilot youth Q&A program in schools called ‘You Can Ask That’. We saw 10 schools engage across NSW, TAS, WA, SA and QLD, with 3,000 young people participating.
Almost 900 young people submitted questions for the panellists, based around the themes of pornography, toxic masculinity, confusion relating to gender inequality, a growing sense of boys being marginalised, and how to navigate the impact of influencers like Andrew Tate.
We also launched our physical
Barber Shop campaign which provides men with practical steps they can take every day to prevent violence against women. This included Barber Shops in Darwin, Brisbane and Sydney, with 1,200 haircuts provided and more than 2,400 unique visitors nationally directed to the resources on our Digital Barber Shop portal. We saw men learn about impacts of domestic violence who have not previously engaged with the campaign and some even reached out for help.
On the advocacy front, we have had targeted engagements across QLD, NSW and VIC, including discussions with the NSW Government and QLD Government on a range of matters relating to social impacts of men’s violence against women. In Brisbane we were able to meet with the Police Commissioner to discuss the findings of their external review into Police culture and extend our support as they work through the recommendations.
In Victoria we met with the Australian Youth Affairs Council (AYAC) and Settlement Council of Australia (SCA) to strengthen bonds and look forward to 2023 prevention activity. These formed part of the 41 active consultations and stakeholder meetings White Ribbon Australia held with corporations, community groups, Governments and individuals on how to prevent violence in their own communities.
Our advocacy saw:
- A four-page report on the proposed changes to the Family Law Act 1975.
- A six-page report in partnership with our Community Partners on actions needed in the new National Plan to End Violence Against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women and Children.
- A one-page response to proposed changes to vilification laws in QLD.
We will also partner further with multicultural communities to develop and evaluate a resource for migrant men to understand bystander awareness, positive fathering and respectful relationships. This builds on our work with the Multicultural Communities Council of South Australia and SBS to develop a series of eight translated podcasts looking at the top things men can do from any background to promote respect and connect to women’s safety.
We were also invited to participate in a National Day of Remembrance for the 60 women murdered by men in 2022 – 60 lives destroyed, and 60 families forever changed. We stood in silence with the domestic violence sector and MPs, including with Federal Ministers.
Our Community Action Groups continue to deliver incredibly impactful work across the country, with 11 locally led projects currently in place across four States and two Territories.
Our Workplace Accreditation Team received 52 EOI’s in the first two months of 2023 and to date, four new businesses and organisations have now partnered with us on their accreditation journey.
On the media front, we featured in prominently, including on the ABC News discussing why 10 paid domestic violence leave days is critical for women’s safety and commentary in The Age in response to the attack on a woman jogging in Ballarat.
For more on what White Ribbon has achieved in January and February 2023,
click here.
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