White Ribbon Newsletter - March 2019
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Dear White Ribbon Supporter
New Zealand has been shaken by the tragedy in Christchurch. Our hearts go out to the families, friends and colleagues of those who have been hurt and to the many White Ribbon Ambassadors who are connected to the Muslim Community in New Zealand. You can donate to the families here.
Hate has no place in our country and our Prime Minister has categorically stated, this is not us.
It is my strong belief that many in our country will focus their attention on ensuring that the views that helped to fuel the murders are rejected publicly, and often.
While White Ribbon focuses on a different kind of violence, namely men's violence towards women, this horrific event should remind us that allowing the extreme views of a minority to go unchallenged creates the opportunity for violence.
Sometimes we conflate freedom of speech and hate speech. Sometimes we don't call out those who signal their despicable views because they are written on a t-shirt, hidden within jokes, within the lyrics of a song, in the images of a music video, or are simply part of the patriarchy that has been accepted for generations.
Words and actions matter, but so too does inaction. Not speaking to our young men about Respectful Relationships or Respectful Sexual Relationships allows others to fill in the gaps. It enables porn to become an educator and young men like the Rape Busters crew to exist and flourish.
So in the wake of this tragedy let us renew our commitment to stand up and speak out. For more information on how you can do this check out these videos.
Rob McCann
White Ribbon Manager
Eight Actions That Can Reduce Violence
Listening and believing women.
Reflecting on and changing your behaviour.
Disrupting other men’s violence towards women.
Treating women as equals.
Choose how to be a man and how you will act.
Talk to a young man about breaking out of the ‘Man Box’.
Think about what media you watch
Talk with young men about respectful relationships and pornography.
Help us to take the next steps in your community by:
1. Nominating someone to become a White Ribbon Ambassador in your community. The form is here and it's easy to nominate someone. Contact us to discuss if you have any questions. More information is here.
2. Getting a local business involved in violence prevention by undertaking White Ribbon Workplace Accreditation. More information here. Contact White Ribbon to discuss here.
3. Getting a Youth Ambassador Scheme up and running in your local schools. More info here or download the PDF. Contact us to discuss.
If you missed out on taking our survey you have one last chance to take the survey about the 2018 White Ribbon Campaign.
Last month we highlighted the abuse of R Kelly towards young women. This month saw the debut of the Leaving Neverland documentary. No matter what you think of Michael Jackson, sexual abuse experts the world over noted the grooming behaviour was consistent with their understanding of the process. Amanda Thompson bravely wrote in The SpinOff about her experiences. Information from Rape Prevention Education about sexual violence against males can be found here.
White Ribbon Ambassador Akerei Maresala-Thomson reveals child sexual abuse in hopes of inspiring youth to speak up. He turned his nightmare into a dream job as chief executive officer of MyRivr, a life-saving social services app used to help people share their voice. You can read more about Akerei and MyRivr here.
Controlling, coercive behaviour is the underlying dynamic in intimate partner violence. It's not about anger, it's about control. Jesse John Stuart Ferris-Bromley, who isolated his partner from her family, wrote her improvement lists, then beat her to death has been declined an early release from prison. Read more here.
White Ribbon Ambassador David White has been undertaking a personal Harm Ends Futures Begin tour with his wife Pam White. Have a listen to David on the AM Show and find out further info on his tour here.
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