#WhiteRibbonAccredited: Richmond Council commits to ending male violence against women

Violence against women is a major public health issue and the past year has shone a bright light upon its harrowing realities.

The disappearance of Sarah Everard in early March struck a chord with millions of women who feel unsafe walking home at night.

The abduction and murder of the 33-year-old marketing executive sparked nationwide unrest about women's safety in public spaces and continued subjection to male violence and sexual harassment.

Investigations into this horrific event coincided with the publication of a study by UN women UK that found that more than four-fifths of women aged 18-24 had been sexually harassed.

White Ribbon UK is a charity that aims to end male violence against women by engaging with men and boys to take a stance against the violence.

It works with supporters, ambassadors, champions, organisations and policy makers to bring about change.

Richmond Council is one of many UK local authorities that has signed up to become White Ribbon Accredited and appointed its first ever White Ribbon Champion, Councillor Ben Khosa, to tackle male violence against women in the community.

White Ribbon CEO Anthea Sully stressed that culture change is vital to ending male violence against women.

She said: "It is powerful when employees are aware of how they can be allies to members of staff because they then take that culture into the rest of their lives amongst their friends and when going to gigs and sports clubs.

"After the Sarah Everard murder we saw a really significant change in the number of organisations coming to us, it at least doubled.

"We had a lot of men coming directly to us wanting to make the White Ribbon promise online and men were coming and buying white ribbons because they really wanted to wear the symbol.

"When I was talking to people that came forward men had been listening to women and they'd been saying I didn’t know this was how it was.

"I didn’t know that when you walking home you are always anxious and have your keys in your hand. I just didn’t know that was normal.

"It's terrible that such an awful tragic circumstance has moved the conversation on but if something positive that moves us forward comes out of that then that can only be good."

Anthea emphasised the importance of having men in positions of leadership like Councillor Khosa as White Ribbon Champions and Ambassadors.

She said: "A council has leadership in the community and it has individuals who are leaders and that’s a really vital part of this.

"It must not be down to women to do all the heavy lifting on getting things changed."

Richmond Council aims to become a White Ribbon Accredited organisation this year and will be heavily promoting its action plan and initiatives this coming November and December.