Horsham District and Crawley Borough councils both held events to mark White Ribbon Day.

Horsham District Council

Horsham District Council is supporting the nationwide White Ribbon Campaign this year with councillors and officers being encouraged to sign the White Ribbon pledge to end domestic violence towards women. Those signing up to the pledge will promise to never commit, condone or stay silent about violence towards women. The Council is working in conjunction with the West Sussex Women’s Institute to support a range of events throughout November to support the campaign.

This year the theme for White Ribbon Day is #ItStartsWithMen to end violence against women and girls. The White Ribbon movement engages men specifically to challenge the attitudes and behaviours that lead to men’s violence against women.

White Ribbon Day this year fell on Monday 25 November when a vigil was held on the Carfax bandstand in Horsham from 6pm to 7pm to which everyone was invited.

Commenting on the campaign, Horsham District Council Cabinet Member for Community and Wellbeing Cllr Sam Raby said: “The white ribbon is considered to be a symbol of hope for a world where women and girls can live free from the fear of violence. Wearing a white ribbon is an opportunity for everyone to show that they do not accept or condone violence against women.”

“It is also an opportunity to remember that domestic violence can happen anywhere to anyone and we will be reminding local people what to do if they experience or witness such behaviour.”

The focus of the campaign is on men changing their behaviours and having the courage to challenge other men on their words and actions to ensure intervention before harmful attitudes and behaviours towards women and girls takes place. The campaign recognises that not all men are violent, but that we can all play a role in preventing violence against women and girls.

Crawley Borough Council

Yesterday, Crawley Borough Council marked White Ribbon Day by encouraging all of its male councillors and officers to sign a pledge to help end violence against women and girls.

White Ribbon UK is the leading charity engaging men and boys to end violence against women and men. This year, the campaign “It starts with Me(n)” asks that men hold themselves accountable to women and each other to help transform harmful cultures.

Councillor Yasmin Khan, Cabinet member for Public Protection, said: “The signing of the pledge demonstrates our commitment to prevent harassment, abuse and violence against women and girls through promoting gender equality and raising awareness. We will not tolerate attitude and behaviours that raise fear in women in their day-to-day lives and we work in partnership with Sussex Police to carry out dedicated patrols to help protect women and girls. I would like to thank everyone who signs the pledge, which demonstrates the strength of unity that we have.”

Support/ get involved

To support White Ribbon Day, you can:

• wear the White Ribbon
• raise awareness with your colleagues, friends, young people and family
• make a donation

You can become an ambassador for the campaign here: https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/ambassadors-find-out-more

And you can sign the promise here: https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/promise

Females can become champions of the campaign. As a Champion your role would be to promote and support the campaign and to encourage men to sign the promise. You can sign up to becoming a Champion here: https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/champions-find-out-more

You can find out more about the campaign here https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/ .