White Ribbon Campaign
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The White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) is a global movement of men and boys working to end male violence against women and girls. It was established in November 1991 by a group of men in Toronto, Ontario, as a response to the École Polytechnique massacre of female students by Marc Lépine in 1989. The campaign was intended to raise awareness about the prevalence of male violence against women, with the ribbon symbolizing "the idea of men giving up their arms". The campaign spread to over 60 countries, which each White Ribbon chapter operating as a separate entity with its own governance.
Background and establishment
On 6 December 1989, an instance of misogyny which occurred at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, known as the Montreal Massacre. In the incident, 25-old Marc Lépine entered the school, killing 14 women, and injuring another ten women and four men because of his hatred toward women and their presence in the engineering program at École.<ref name="WR" />
In November 1991, a group of pro-feminist men in Toronto, Ontario, formed as a response to this massacre. The campaign was intended to raise awareness about the prevalence of male violence against women, with the ribbon symbolizing "the idea of men giving up their arms".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Cosmopolitan"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Description
The White Ribbon Campaign is active in over 60 countries, including Canada, the UK,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Pakistan, Italy, and Australia. Each White Ribbon chapter works as a separate entity and with its own governance.Template:Citation needed
The movement seeks to promote healthy relationships, gender equity, and a compassionate vision of masculinity.<ref name="WR">Template:Cite web</ref>
Much of the campaign's work is centered around the prevention of intimate partner violence, and includes educating and mentoring young men about issues such as violence and gender equality. Men and boys are encouraged to wear white ribbons as a symbol of their opposition to violence against women.<ref name="WR" />
Wearing the ribbons is particularly encouraged during White Ribbon Week, which starts on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.<ref name="WR" />
By country
White Ribbon Australia
In Australia in 2018, the day was moved from 25 to 23 November to become a specific campaign day separate to the international day, and expanded to encompass violence against children.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Businesses are able to attain a "white ribbon accredited workplace", valid for three years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In October 2018, White Ribbon Australia made plans to retract its position statement that women "should have complete control over their reproductive and sexual health", moving to an "agnostic" stance to consult with community stakeholders.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Following criticism of the move, the original position statement was reinstated several hours later.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The change in position occurred on the same morning the Parliament of Queensland voted to decriminalise abortion,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which came after a lengthy process involving the Queensland Law Reform Commission (QLRC). White Ribbon Australia was referred to in the QLRC's Review of Termination of Pregnancy Laws Report, for its submission supporting the need for "nationally consistent access to safe and legal abortion".<ref>Queensland Law Reform Commission, 2018, Review of Termination of Pregnancy Laws Report, Retrieved 26 October 2018</ref>
On 3 October 2019, the Australian arm of the movement, White Ribbon Australia, was placed into liquidation after posting a net loss of AU$840,000 in its financial reports.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By March 2020 a Western Australia-based community service organisation bought White Ribbon Australia, with the White Ribbon Canada executive director welcoming their commitment to collaborating to "challenge and support men and boys to realise their potential to be part of the solution in ending all forms of gender-based violence".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In June 2020 Brad Chilcott, a pastor at Activate Church in Adelaide and founder of the refugee advocacy organisation Welcome to Australia, was appointed CEO of White Ribbon Australia. He stated an intent to focus more on domestic violence, to move away from being a specific campaign engaging males in order to involve all Australians, and to move "from awareness to advocacy".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Some research papers some have looked at the effectiveness of the White Ribbon Australia campaign strategies. Kate Seymour, in her 2017 article "'Stand up, speak out and act': A critical reading of Australia's White Ribbon campaign" wrote that White Ribbon Australia's "failure to articulate the meaning of both gender equality and respect is a crucial lack", and that "White Ribbon’s reliance on a binary view of gender, together with its emphasis on the attitudes and acts of individual men, contributes to the obscuration of men's collective advantage".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A master's thesis by Daniel Pitman of Western Sydney University (2020), titled "Understanding White Ribbon: Its Emergence and Limits in Countering Men's Violence in Australia", notes criticism of the movement by some politicians and media.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>
Men's rights organisation (2014)
In 2014, the United States-based men's rights activist organisation A Voice for Men launched whiteribbon.org (since discontinued) as a counter to the White Ribbon campaign,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> adopting graphics and language from White Ribbon.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It is owned by Erin Pizzey and has the slogan "Stop Violence Against Everyone".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Accused of "hijacking" White Ribbon,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the site was harshly criticized by Todd Minerson, the former executive director of the White Ribbon Campaign, who described it as "a copycat campaign articulating their archaic views and denials about the realities of gender-based violence".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The site presents the claim that domestic violence is a learned behaviour from childhood, perpetrated equally by women and men. The website has faced much criticism, being accused of displaying "anti-feminist propaganda".<ref name="Cosmopolitan">Template:Cite web</ref>