Excerpts:
The figures surrounding domestic violence and abuse make for depressing
reading. They serve to highlight the inherent inequalities between men and
women, with men overwhelmingly responsible for violence towards their
spouses and partners, and women overwhelmingly the victims of it.
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We are delighted to have the support of Leeds United during their game with
Middlesbrough tomorrow, as part of a partnership with Safer Leeds to mark
White Ribbon Day and the 16 Days of Action.
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With young people aged 16-25 being the age demographic most likely to
experience domestic abuse and sexual violence, it’s no surprise that
educating the next generation should be a high priority on everyone’s to-do
list.
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November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence
Against Women, also known as White Ribbon Day.
On this day, we ask men everywhere to recognise the necessity for them to
stand up and take responsibility in working towards a future without
violence against women. The first step towards this is wearing a white
ribbon and making the promise to never commit, excuse or remain silent
about male violence against women.
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There’s a fashion today to reach for alternative facts when the truth is
inconvenient. Where we succumb to this, we lose a grip on reality and have
an excuse not to act. So let’s not do that.
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Words: Dr. Rosemary Lucy Hill, University of Huddersfield. Recently there has been increasing attention paid to sexual harassment, groping and assault at gigs, with groups like White Ribbon and Safe Gigs for Women running campaigns to highlight the issue. At the Universities of Huddersfield and Leeds we have seen the problem, and what can be done to prevent and respond to it. We have found that sexual harassment, groping and assault is being committed at gigs across a range of music genres, mostly by men. It causes grave harm to victim-survivors, mostly women, and puts them in immediate danger. It results in feelings of shock, fear, humiliation, violation, anger and powerlessness which can last for many years. It significantly reduces pleasure in the music, and can result in a withdrawal from music participation altogether. Groping, harassment and assault must not be considered hazards of live music participation. Something can be done. It is everyone’s responsibility to take action. Venues and promoters play a vital role in creating safer, healthier gigs. We recommend five things that venue managers and promoters can do to help prevent sexual harassment, groping and assault, and respond well to incidents when they do occur: 5 things venue managers and promoters can doAcknowledge there is a problem. Groping, sexual harassment and assault is not often reported, but it is happening at gigs and it needs to be taken seriously. Groping is sexual assault and it is illegal. Get specialist staff training. Most people are not experts in dealing with sexual violence. Specialist training is available from Good Night Out and this can increase staff awareness of the myths around sexual violence. It can also help to generate women’s trust in venues and promoters. Devise and implement clear policies. A well-publicised policy devoted to preventing and responding to sexual harassment, groping and assault should state what is expected of everyone coming to the venue and what will happen if they deviate from expectations. Set up clear procedures. Accessible written procedures for what to do when an incident occurs should be victim-led. Poor responses to sexual violence compound feelings of humiliation and violation. Clear procedures empower staff to know what to do in a crisis and to support victim/survivors well. Work towards culture change. Avoid working with other organisations that are unwilling to acknowledge the problem and do something about it. Book bands who are known for speaking out against sexual violence, and avoid bands with histories of sexual violence or misogynistic lyrics. Aim for mixed gender bills and actively support of women and LGBTQ musicians.
SupportSupport is available to help venues and promoters take positive steps: White Ribbon UK Safer Music and Venues works with festivals, events and music venues to raise awareness of the need for safeguarding in this sector, and encourages organisations through a comprehensive action plan, to develop policies and practices that prevent violence against women and girls. Good Night Out is a community interest company that delivers training to licensed premises on how to tackle and prevent harassment of women and LGBTQ+ people on nights out. They work with venues to develop policies and provide accreditation. 5 things music lovers can doFor men in the audience, in bands or working in the music industry, you too have a role to play. Take the White Ribbon pledge to never commit, excuse or remain silent about male violence against women. Talk to your friends and acquaintances about why groping women at gigs is not okay. If you think a woman is being sexually harassed or assaulted, ask her if she needs help, if it is safe to do so, or tell venue staff. Do not stand idly by. Ask venues and promoters what their sexual harassment policy is. Print out and give venue managers and promoters a copy of our booklet Five ways to combat sexual harassment, groping and assault at gigs: A guide for venues and promoters:
Click to view
If we want a thriving live music scene for all then we all need to take action to make them safer and happier. You can read more about the research project, including viewing the full guidelines and report, here.
Rosemary Lucy Hill is a Senior Lecturer in Media Studies in the School of Music, Humanities and Media at University of Huddersfield. She is the author of Gender, Metal and the Media: Women Fans and the Gendered Experience of Music (Palgrave). She researches gender, popular music and big data, and is currently investigating sexual violence at live music events.
Venue-related items available on our shop
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In addition to being a White Ribbon Ambassador, Chris Lloyd is a Senior
Lecturer in Law in the School of Law at Oxford Brookes University. Chris
researches into, publishes on, and teaches Criminal Law and Criminal
Justice, with a particular focus on sexual offences viewed through the lens
of post-structural and feminist theory. He has published in journals such
as Law Text Culture, the Australian Feminist Law Journal, Social and Legal
Studies, Information & Communications Technology Law, and Feminist Legal
Studies.
Institutional Profile | Research
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Well done to Gwent Police who have completed their action plan for White
Ribbon Accreditation. It’s great to see so many emergency services working
towards safer communities with the values of White Ribbon as a strong part
of that.
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Congratulations to Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue service on becoming White
Ribbon Accredited. We look forward to working with the service in changing
cultures and raising awareness within the Tyne and Wear community.
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This general election offers an opportunity for all political parties to
explicitly support equality for women. Women’s lives have changed
significantly in the last 50 years but there is still lots of work to do.
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Chester Women’s Aid launched Stitch4Survivors this week - a new initiative
enabling communities in Chester to show support for survivors of violence
by contributing to a giant knitted white ribbon
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Steve Garrett is a Cardiff (Wales)-based social entrepreneur, writer, poet
and musician (aka ‘Stainless Steve’) who has a long-standing interest in
men’s issues. He runs a men’s group in Cardiff; and, as well as being a
White Ribbon Ambassador, is involved with the Good Lad Initiative
https://www.goodladinitiative.com.
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As part of the work they do, our Ambassadors and Champions present
informative and challenging White Ribbon presentations.
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Organisations and volunteers up and down the country are working hard to
plan their awareness-raising activities for the 16 Days of Action between
White Ribbon Day on 25th November, and Human Rights Day on 10th December.
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