FEDERAL member for Page Kevin Hogan today joined Clarence Valley Council mayor Richie Williamson, local police and community organisations at the Clarence Valley Council to mark White Ribbon Day and help end violence against woman.
“This is a cause I hold dear to my heart,” Mr Hogan said. “Violence against women is a serious problem in Australia, with least one woman killed every week by a current or former partner and, unfortunately Page is not immune.”
Mr Hogan said the Federal Government was committed to do all it could to stop any form of violence against women and had provided $1 million over the next four years to the White Ribbon campaign to reduce violence against women, particularly in culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
This commitment builds on the Federal Government’s plans to ensure the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Children 2010-2022 is implemented.
“Violence against anyone is always wrong and when directed against women it is abhorrent. The victims are not merely statistics; they are our wives, sisters, mothers, daughters and friends,” Mr Hogan said.
According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, slightly more than a third of all homicides take place in the home, with 73 per cent of those involving a woman being killed by their male partner.
“When mothers are forced to flee the family home in fear of violence, they and their children can easily become homeless which exacerbates their problems,” Mr Hogan said.
White Ribbon is the world’s largest male-led movement to end men’s violence against women. Through primary prevention initiatives and an annual campaign, White Ribbon Australia seeks to change the attitudes and behaviours that lead to and perpetuate men’s violence against women, by engaging boys and men to lead social change.
People are encouraged to wear the symbolic white ribbon on November 25 as the culmination of an annual campaign and global recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
White Ribbon Day also signals the start of the 16 Days of Activism to Stop Violence against Women, which ends on Human Rights Day (10 December).
