Mona Mitchell (Chair), Jeff Feiner (Past Chair), Vipin Rikhi (Treasurer), Chris Langdon (Secretary), Kelly Davis, Mary Pompili, Sheamus Murphy, Joel Marans, Louie Surdi
The White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) is a global movement of men and boys working to end male violence against women and girls. It was established in November 1991 by a group of men in Toronto, Ontario, as a response to the École Polytechnique massacre of female students by Marc Lépine in 1989. The campaign was intended to raise awareness about the prevalence of male violence against women, with the ribbon symbolizing "the idea of men giving up their arms". The campaign spread to over 60 countries, which each White Ribbon chapter operating as a separate entity with its own governance.
Background and establishment
On 6 December 1989, an instance of misogyny which occurred at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, known as the Montreal Massacre. In the incident, 25-old Marc Lépine entered the school, killing 14 women, and injuring another ten women and four men because of his hatred toward women and their presence in the engineering program at École.[2]
In November 1991, a group of pro-feminist men in Toronto, Ontario, formed as a response to this massacre. The campaign was intended to raise awareness about the prevalence of male violence against women, with the ribbon symbolizing "the idea of men giving up their arms".[3][4][5]
Description
The White Ribbon Campaign is active in over 60 countries, including Canada, the UK,[6] Pakistan, Italy, and Australia. Each White Ribbon chapter works as a separate entity and with its own governance.[citation needed]
The movement seeks to promote healthy relationships, gender equity, and a compassionate vision of masculinity.[2]
Much of the campaign's work is centered around the prevention of intimate partner violence, and includes educating and mentoring young men about issues such as violence and gender equality. Men and boys are encouraged to wear white ribbons as a symbol of their opposition to violence against women.[2]
In Australia in 2018, the day was moved from 25 to 23 November to become a specific campaign day separate to the international day, and expanded to encompass violence against children.[7] Businesses are able to attain a "white ribbon accredited workplace", valid for three years.[8]
In October 2018, White Ribbon Australia made plans to retract its position statement that women "should have complete control over their reproductive and sexual health", moving to an "agnostic" stance to consult with community stakeholders.[9][10] Following criticism of the move, the original position statement was reinstated several hours later.[11] The change in position occurred on the same morning the Parliament of Queensland voted to decriminalise abortion,[12] which came after a lengthy process involving the Queensland Law Reform Commission (QLRC). White Ribbon Australia was referred to in the QLRC's Review of Termination of Pregnancy Laws Report, for its submission supporting the need for "nationally consistent access to safe and legal abortion".[13]
On 3 October 2019, the Australian arm of the movement, White Ribbon Australia, was placed into liquidation after posting a net loss of AU$840,000 in its financial reports.[14][15] By March 2020 a Western Australia-based community service organisation bought White Ribbon Australia, with the White Ribbon Canada executive director welcoming their commitment to collaborating to "challenge and support men and boys to realise their potential to be part of the solution in ending all forms of gender-based violence".[16]
In June 2020 Brad Chilcott, a pastor at Activate Church in Adelaide and founder of the refugee advocacy organisation Welcome to Australia, was appointed CEO of White Ribbon Australia. He stated an intent to focus more on domestic violence, to move away from being a specific campaign engaging males in order to involve all Australians, and to move "from awareness to advocacy".[17]
Some research papers some have looked at the effectiveness of the White Ribbon Australia campaign strategies. Kate Seymour, in her 2017 article "'Stand up, speak out and act': A critical reading of Australia's White Ribbon campaign" wrote that White Ribbon Australia's "failure to articulate the meaning of both gender equality and respect is a crucial lack", and that "White Ribbon’s reliance on a binary view of gender, together with its emphasis on the attitudes and acts of individual men, contributes to the obscuration of men's collective advantage".[18] A master's thesis by Daniel Pitman of Western Sydney University (2020), titled "Understanding White Ribbon: Its Emergence and Limits in Countering Men's Violence in Australia", notes criticism of the movement by some politicians and media.[19]
Men's rights organisation (2014)
In 2014, the United States-based men's rights activist organisation A Voice for Men launched whiteribbon.org (since discontinued) as a counter to the White Ribbon campaign,[20][21] adopting graphics and language from White Ribbon.[22] It is owned by Erin Pizzey and has the slogan "Stop Violence Against Everyone".[23] Accused of "hijacking" White Ribbon,[24] the site was harshly criticized by Todd Minerson, the former executive director of the White Ribbon Campaign, who described it as "a copycat campaign articulating their archaic views and denials about the realities of gender-based violence".[25] The site presents the claim that domestic violence is a learned behaviour from childhood, perpetrated equally by women and men. The website has faced much criticism, being accused of displaying "anti-feminist propaganda".[4]
^"Marie Stopes Australia statement on White Ribbon Australia". Marie Stopes Australia. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018. Marie Stopes Australia is profoundly disappointed in White Ribbon Australia's decision to retract its position statement on Women's Reproductive Rights. When White Ribbon Australia released the statement in February 2017 it bravely and rightly revealed the strong link between prevention of violence against women and reproductive autonomy. The decision to retract the statement sends a dangerous message to our community and ignores the growing evidence of strong links between reproductive coercion, family violence, intimate partner violence and sexual violence.
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