Condemning violence against women

On 25 November, 1990, a man massacred fourteen women in Montreal. To mark the first anniversary of the dreadful event, a handful of Canadian men created the White Ribbon Day and began the campaign to urge men to speak out against violence against women.

In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly declared 25 November the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (IDVAW). The White Ribbon became the symbol for the day.

In Australia, the White Ribbon Day was commemorated countrywide on 25 November, led by the Prime Minister. Along with other party leaders, he attended the annual parliamentary breakfast where Members of Parliament, defence, and business leaders participated in White Ribbon Day.

The only national violence prevention campaign, known as the White Ribbon Campaign, is unique in that it aims to raise awareness among Australian men and boys about the roles they can play to prevent violence against women. The campaign calls for men across Australia to speak out and take an oath. An oath swearing never to commit, excuse or remain silent about violence against women. 

On White Ribbon Day men and women across Australia are called to wear a white ribbon or wristband as a visual symbol of their commitment and oath.

In his breakfast address, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull stressed that violence against women is the end point of disrespecting women.”Now, not all disrespect of women ends up in violence but all violence against women begins there,” he said. “One of the most important things we must do as parents and indeed as grandparents is to ensure that our sons and our grandsons respect their sisters and mothers and their grandmothers.”

“If we set the cultural environment right at the outset, men respecting women, when they are little boys, and that is the example we give them, they will respect them through the rest of their lives. This is such an important, such an important objective,” he added.

In swearing and wearing a white ribbon, men and boys can act as positive role models and advocates for change by challenging behaviours and attitudes that have allowed violence against women to occur.

Over 100 White Ribbon Ambassadors – men who are leaders in their careers, sports or communities – encourage men and boys to become aware and engaged in the White Ribbon Campaign.

White Ribbon programs are held in schools to create awareness among the students on the need to respect the girls and the women in their lives.

In his address, the Prime Minister insisted that violence against women is a crime. “It doesn’t matter what the environment in which it occurs is. It is a crime and has to be treated as such.”

He paid a special tribute to the victims of domestic violence, past and present, “who have borne the burden of our failure to act for too long. To every child who has lost a mother, every mother who has lost a child, for the lost daughters, sisters, aunts and friends, and for those who are suffering right now, this is your day too.”

“It’s the day we talk about your courage, your pain, your sacrifice, and it’s the day that we re-commit as men to ending domestic violence, to ending violence against women.”