Rob McCann
White Ribbon wants your help to end men’s violence and sexual harassment against women.
The Weinstein allegations and subsequent ‘Me too’ Facebook status have demonstrated in a very public manner what family violence organisations have known for a long time.
That while one in three women experience violence in their lifetime, the number of women that experience issues such as sexual harassment is clearly far higher. The rate of ‘me too’ Facebook statuses is a clear indication, if any was needed, that sexual harassment and violence needs not just a voice, but a response and White Ribbon has purposely created a campaign that focuses on violence prevention by asking our men to ‘raise our boys.
In 2015, White Ribbon launched our first campaign which included the issue of consent and the need for an ongoing and enthusiastic yes.
Inspiring confidence in dads
Using research conducted by White Ribbon in 2016 where we found dads were happy to talk to their daughters about keeping safe, but not to their sons about respectful relationships, our 2017 Campaign will focus on wanting to give dads the confidence and tools to talk about ‘Respectful Relationships and Respectful Sexual Relationships.
Raise our Boys
Our campaign will be called ‘Raise our Boys,’ and will focus on preventing violence and harassment by encouraging dads (and all caregivers and ….) to teach our boys about consent and being respectful. We want to give young men permission to move out of the metaphorical ‘man box.’
This involves treating women as equals, and being flexible and expressive – not what’s typically shown in a movie or pornography.
Campaign Launch
The 2017 White Ribbon Campaign will launch on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 with a premier of a White Ribbon film that discusses how Kiwi men are socialised in ways that lead to violence, anger and self-harm, and how they can develop more positive behaviour.
The campaign is also bringing to New Zealand, an international anti-violence campaigner to run a series of workshops to increase understanding of how New Zealand males are socialised; how this links with the high levels of family and sexual violence against women; what we can do about this and launching a series of new Toolboxes for parents, dads, young men and influencers of men, to provide tips on how to encourage and role model healthy relationships.
Please respond
White Ribbon is only a small organisation and we need your help to get campaign information in front of as many men as possible. If we want a lasting response to the Facebook status ‘me too’, we need your support with this violence prevention campaign. Now more than ever, everyone can see just how immense this problem is.’
Rob McCann is Manager, White Ribbon New Zealand. (Picture Courtesy: Labour Party of New Zealand)
