White Ribbon Day, which is happening on 22 November 2019, is Australia’s largest violence against women awareness day. During this day, various communities all over the country come together to stand up, speak out and act, and say "no!" to gendered violence. The theme of this year's campaigns is "Together, we can end men's violence against women and children in our community".
History of the White Ribbon Movement
The movement known as White Ribbon, which aims to engage men in preventing men’s violence against women, has a very rich history that started during that fateful day of 25 November 1981. The day was declared as the International Day Against Violence Against Women, in honor of the Mirabal sisters, who were assasinated in 25 November 1960 following years of resistance against the Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo. This started various feminist movements and organisations that fought for women's rights, including the White Ribbon Campaign that started in Canada in November 1991. By 1992, Bob Pease, a member of the Australia group Men Against Sexual Assault or MASA, after attending a conference by the National Organisation of Men Against Sexism in Chicago that talked about the White Ribbon Campaign, decided to bring the campaign home to Australia. From 1992-1997, MASA ran the White Ribbon Campaign in different states in the country. White Ribbon Day moved from the 25th to the 22nd of November to give way and honor UN's declaration making the 25th of November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in 1999.
Why is White Ribbon Day important?
In Australia, one woman per week is killed at the hands of a current or former partner, while one in two women experience sexual harassment during their lifetime. This makes violence against women an epidemic in the country. And it takes everyone working as a community to say "no", and end men’s violence against women. White Ribbon Day is exactly that day we all need to bring awareness to the issue and encourage Australians to stand up, speak out and act.
For more information about White Ribbon Day 2019, visit whiteribbon.org.au.
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