A DETERMINATION to see all women living in safety, free from violence and abuse is the vision of the organisers of the White Ribbon campaign held in Bridgetown last week.
Rae Smith from South West Counselling and Kath Bell from Skillhire Youth Connections are passionate about White Ribbon Day and are keen to raise awareness in the Bridgetown Community about this campaign, which is Australia's only male-led campaign to end men's violence against women.
Ms Smith and Ms Bell, along with a few other helpers, spent time last Tuesday in the main street of Bridgetown raising awareness of this issue by decorating a tree with white ribbons and providing information on the day.
In the lead up to this, information had been made available through a number of local businesses and locals were given an opportunity to write a message on a ribbon and tie it to the tree.
Ms Smith is enthusiastic about this cause and was happy with how the message was shared on the day and the support that was received from the community.
"The mission is to make women's safety a man's issue too,” Ms Smith said. "The campaign works through primary intervention initiatives such as raising awareness and education.
"I would like to thank the Bridgetown-Greenbushes Shire for allowing us to decorate a tree on the main street and all the local businesses that have supported us in this initiative. This has been a great opportunity to raise awareness of this issue and to provide information on what support services are available locally to people experiencing domestic violence in our community,” she said.
"Many people showed their support by sharing stories, tying ribbons to trees with personal messages and donating to the White Ribbon Campaign."
Ms Smith was thankful to the Bridgetown community for embracing the day and showing support and looks forward to finding some men that may be interested in leading this campaign locally in future years and hearing men speak up in support of the safety of women.
