Vanessa Lam
3 December 2015: Staff and students from the University of Canberra pledged to prevent men's violence against women at a White Ribbon Day event on campus last week.
The University has been a White Ribbon accredited workplace for the past two years and continues to support Australia's only national, male-led campaign to end men's violence against women.
Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design Lyndon Anderson spoke about being a White Ribbon ambassador and led attendees at the morning tea in swearing an oath to "stand up, speak out and act to prevent men's violence against women".
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University of Canberra staff and students take a stand to support the end of violence against women as part of White Ribbon Day. Photo: Michelle McAulay
Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker said that violence is never acceptable at the University.
"Violence against women is at an epidemic proportion, in over 12 months on average one woman is killed every week because of domestic violence. Murder is to the extreme end of a broad spectrum of violence against women. A spectrum that encompasses financial, verbal, emotional, psychological, physical and sexual abuse as well as workplace harassment, they all form part of a cruel cycle of violence," Professor Parker said.
"The University will continue to encourage people to understand that violence against women is unacceptable, it is never the victim's fault, help is always available and if we see something, we need to say something."
Also taking part in the event was Mirjana Wilson, executive director of Domestic Violence Crisis Service (DVCS) who discussed the work that the DVCS does to stop domestic violence and help its victims.
Ms Wilson said one of the best things people can do to help is seek advice from people and services such as the DVCS.
"It's really about having the conversation, challenging the stereotypes and just getting a little bit more comfortable about talking about what is really an unpalatable topic," she said.
White Ribbon accredited workplace since 2013, the University is one of 36 organisations in Australia to be recognised. Its commitment to gender equality in the workplace was also recently recognised by being named an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency for the eighth year running.
For more information about White Ribbon visit their website.
