Dear White Ribbon Supporter

White Ribbon’s annual campaign promotes respectful relationships – to prevent men’s violence against women.

It’s a community effort that educates, increases awareness and builds commitment to respectful behaviour. You can be involved!

Here’s ten ideas on how any organisation can support White Ribbon’s respectful relationships campaign this year. This could be a business, a sports club, a school, a marae, a cultural or music group or a community organisation – anywhere people group together. 

These ideas are general so they can be used by many different organisations, so think about what best suits your environment – tweaking them to your organisation will make it more effective at getting your people involved.  

1.      Distribute and wear White Ribbon ribbons

Wearing white ribbons in November is the simplest way of showing your organisation supports respectful relationships and that opposes violence against women. You can easily involve your people in wearing ribbons by explaining how White Ribbon’s messages fit with your organisation’s values.  You can also distribute white ribbons to others your organisation encounters, such as customers or visitors.

Fabric and metal white ribbons are available from  https://whiteribbonnz.myshopify.com/ 

2.      Display White Ribbon’s campaign messages

Each year White Ribbon develops new posters that promote respectful relationships. These are available for you to display where your organisation’s staff or members, and visitors and the public can see them. They show your organisation supports respectful relationships. (Draft concept images for the 2017 campaign are pictured).

White Ribbon posters and t-shirts are available from  https://whiteribbonnz.myshopify.com/   

3.      Involve your people in respectful relationships

Get your people talking about what respect means to them and in your organisation’s environment. This could be at a meeting or part of training. For example, discuss the White Ribbon Respectful Relationships toolbox and what it means for people in your organisation. Focus on practical examples that makes it real for your people. This is  likely to improve your social environment.  

4.      Incorporate White Ribbon messages into your communication

Each year White Ribbon produces messages that promote respectful behaviour. You can show your organisation supports these by including them in your communication – this could be internal to your members or staff, and out to others, such as customers or suppliers. You could show you support respectful behaviour by including message sin your public advertising.

See White Ribbon’s toolboxes for messages https://whiteribbon.org.nz/toolbox/  or for more details see https://whiteribbon.org.nz/about/key-messages/ 

5.      Align White Ribbon’s messages with your organisation’s values

Look at how White Ribbon’s respectful messages align with your organisation’s values or mission. There’s probably many ways they can work together to promote respectful behaviour that contributes to your success. Promoting how your organisation aligns with White Ribbon will motivate your people and show your community how you support respectful relationships. 

6.      Develop your own respectful relationship messages

Think about your people, and develop your own messages they’ll respond to and which promotes their respectful behaviour. Get these out during November to make respect real.

For ideas on respectful behaviour see White Ribbon’s toolboxes https://whiteribbon.org.nz/toolbox/

7.      Hold a White Ribbon event

Do something to draw attention to White Ribbon’s campaign and how your organisation supports respectful behaviour. This could be internal for your people, or involve more people from your community. 

Events are easy to organise and volunteers are often keen to get involved. Something that reflects your organisation will attract interest. See https://whiteribbon.org.nz/events/ for examples of community events – this will get you thinking about what might suit your organisation’s event. And give your audience an opportunity to take The Pledge https://whiteribbon.org.nz/act/the-pledge/  at your event by signing a form or taking it online.

8.      Celebrate your respect champions

You’ll have people in your organisation that role model respect. Acknowledging and celebrating them is a good way to promote respectful behaviour.

If you’ve got someone who stands out for modelling respectful behaviour and how they influence others, you can nominate them to be a White Ribbon ambassador. Ambassadors embody the principles of White Ribbon’s respectful relationships campaign. Contact White Ribbon about this at https://whiteribbon.org.nz/about/contact-us/

9.      Check your policies and practices for respect

Check that your policies and practices identify and promote the respectful behaviour you expect of your people. Tweak them if need be, so you’re doing what you can to actively promote respect in your organisation and community. 

White Ribbon has a business accreditation scheme which detail actions businesses can take to promote respect and prevent violence. Contact White Ribbon about this https://whiteribbon.org.nz/about/contact-us/

10.      Support your community actions

During November, there will be other White Ribbon activities in communities across New Zealand. Find out what’s happening in your community and see how you can support this local action. You can promote this event to your people or customers, for example.

There’s listings of local events at https://whiteribbon.org.nz/events/
Once we have critical mass the 2016 listing will be updated with 2017 events.
Please let us know about your event here https://whiteribbon.org.nz/act/events

For a limited time, when you purchase an Entertainment Membership from White Ribbon, you’ll receive a BONUS $10 New World Gift Card PLUS FREE DELIVERY!
What a win!

The NEW 2017 | 2018 Entertainment Book, or the new Entertainment Digital Membership for your smartphone is packed with thousands of up to 50% OFF and 2-for-1 offers for the best local restaurants, cafés, attractions, hotel accommodation, travel, and more!

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September 2017