White Ribbon Day 25 November 2008

White Ribbon Day, 25 November, is the international day when people wear a white ribbon to show that they do not condone violence towards women.
In New Zealand most violence by men against women takes place in the home - with an average of 14 women a year killed by their partners or ex-partners. Each year there are over 3,500 convictions recorded against men for assaults on women and one in five women will experience sexual assault or sexual interference at some point in their lives.

Public Displays
Pick up a ribbon from displays at various locations around the District on Tuesday November 25th. The displays will provide information about family violence, balloons for children and most events will include free sausage sizzles and performances from local student groups.

These events are happening:

· in Helensville outside Woolworths,
· in Wellsford outside Postie Plus,
· in Warkworth next to Lee & Hart’s Pharmacy,
· in theWhangaparaoa Plaza, and
· in Orewa, on Moana Ave, outside the Orewa library.

All events will begin at 11:30 am and end at 3:30 pm.

Information about Help for Families
There are a number of local organisations who can provide support for women and families experiencing family violence.

Hestia Womens’s Refuge provide community support, advocacy and emergency accommodation to those affected by family violence. They can be contacted on 0800 321 361 to reach the emergency paging service.

Rodney Stopping Violence Services provide violence prevention programmes and counselling for men, women and children and can be contacted on 09 425 8130.

What you can do
- Wear a white ribbon to show your support.
- Challenge attitudes and behaviour which condone or tolerate violence.
- Encourage others in your organisation, family/whanau, community, street or workplace to wear a white ribbon.
- Organise a local event to speak out against violence towards women.
- Spread the word about the White Ribbon campaign and its aims.