White Ribbon Campaign uk

Loads and loads going on . Currently on a train to a meeting with a leading Tory politician who wnts to know more about WhitE ribbon Campaign. Another politican meeting in a couple of weeks, adn tomorrow my first steering group of Men’s Coalition. One of the three planks of our work is to work with politicians and legislators but it is hard work.
Monday night we supported the Million WOmen Rise benefit in Leeds.

Have also booked our first proper Trustees meeting.

A 14 page report on UK White rIbbon work in 2007 is available- it’s a bit tatty but I was impressed!

430 members now on Facebook which soulds a lot till you realise that some of the really naff Facebook causes attract thousands of supporters very quickly. I want to keep developing the Facebook site till peoplem staret to find it really interesting. We’ve got 1 survey up there. We keep that sirte up to dat with news as it’s easier

150 members on White Ribbon UK facebook now and growing quickly.

Tired with parcelling up loads and loads of badges, ribbons, and banners but campaign keeps on growing

We are due to launch in Second Life on November 22nd, have got a lot of supporters there already, and would welcome more activists.

We are already organising training events, in SL and have large exhibition area with links to many other campaigning organisations

White Ribbon Campaign now exists in Second Life, the virtual existence, as a group.

Now we’re looking for a team to develop and expand our presence there , as well as to design posters, and make and distribute ribbons in Second Life.

If you know of anyone who might want to assist and build their reputation as a virtual campaigner put them in touch with the office.

The UK Government’s discussion of this as a possibility follows on from a law in Sweden which has been in place for 8 years and has been very succesful in making men rethink some of their attitudes towards women.

The Scottish Executive were going to enact similar legislation until the change of power in May.

There is no respect for women when a man feels able to go and buy one for the night, and in order to put an end to violence we need to live in a society of respect for all.

That’s my argument simplistically put.

150,000 ribbons int he warehouse, and they are starting to go out again now- -40,000 out by Wednesday. and on Friday we got our Annual Financial Report filed which means we can go ahead and get registered as a charity. Lots of speaker meetings booked for the autumn, but somehow I don’t feel as far ahead as we should in terms of changing attitudes and culture and getting the issues on the agenda. There is now an excellent Scottish White Ribbon blog with loads of extra references and video clips to download. It’s at http://whiteribbonscotland.wordpress.com.

Would I challenge him or not ?

Big man at Hebden Bridge Trades Club wearing a “jokey” t shirt about Stalking. It meant I spent at least 30 minutes discussing with myself what I should say to him instead of listening to the music.  At the end of the evening I went up and said something to him  about the extent of Stalking  and the links to sexual assault etc. He told me that he had a reason for wearing the t- shirt and if I didn’t like it I could f off .

I ‘ve written to the Club asking if they might think about a policy on offensive t- shirts , which would put more pressure on voluntary door staff.

Of course I could have handled the intervention better , but I was pleased to have said anything at all rather than just let it go and then moan about it for ages.

Comments welcome

Everyone agredd that doing more work with men was vital and there were some important statements made during a two day conference Mens Active Participation in combatting Domestic Violence.

Only a small fraction of the presentations made were about anything other than working with perpetrators. Of course this work is vital, but when even one of the largest schemes , that run by Probation service in UK only involves 1,500 men, there are an awful lot more attitudes out there which need changing.

However it was excellent to see the meeting attended by a Deputy Secretary of the Council of Europe, an Assistant secretary general of the UN, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia.

A round of applause was offered to the two men who came unaccompanied, as wellas to the three who came with their partners to the Thirsk Soroptimists meeting on the White Ribbon Campaign. There were about 40 people there who were very active in the discussion following my introduction to why men should and why men might want to get involved in anti violence campaigning.

There were discussions about the possibilities of working with other local organisations like the Rotary Club, as wellas the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Scouts, adn the Young Offenders Institution based nearby.

They made a donation to our work too, as well as buying plenty of campaign materials.

A depressing day on Wednesday when I set up 5 big banners and a stand at the Varsity Match between Manchester Unviersity and Manchester Metropolitan University- I stayed for 2 hours with nop-one taking much interest and no discussions. I had literature explaning how many Rugby Players and Rugby Teams had already taken a stand against Violence against women with White Ribbon Campaign- including Swansea Ospreys, and St Helens and Salford Rugby League Clubs, and the captains of the Australian and New Zealand Rugby League Teams.

Because we’d been invited to have a stand I was expecting a rather more positive response,so after 2 hours I came home.

There has to be a better way to start a communication and to start to break down the stereotypical ideas of these young rugby players- bothe men and women- of what constitutes appropriate male behaviour.

We have plans in a very early stage -of having a Youth Confernece for White Ribbon Campaign in London- maybe it will come up with some brighter ideas