Organisations lead the way in ending male violence towards women

By: Jo Wood, White Ribbon UK’s Partnerships Officer.

In the past year we have seen a dramatic upturn in the number of organisations approaching us who are recognising the need to put the well-being of their employees first, through the process of being White Ribbon Accredited. Increasingly I’ve noticed organisations developing a clear understanding of the connection between sexist and harassing behaviour in the workplace and male violence against women.

Both public sector and corporate organisations are recognising that they are able to lead the way on making positive changes within their organisations which directly benefit both their employees and their clients and customers and White Ribbon Accreditation can enable them to deliver this.

Those organisations already White Ribbon Accredited are reaping the benefits of being better places to work, they are able to attract and maintain staff, they have increased customer retention and they have an improved business reputation. We know that men look to other men for their role modelling and in male dominated industries particularly, men within those organisations are at the cutting edge. Most importantly they are building a better and safer environment for women.

White Ribbon UK works with men to engage with other men in their communities, places of work and social settings because men need not only be the cause of male violence towards women, they are also the solution to it. Most men are not violent to women and role modelling positive examples of masculinity to other men is a valuable thing for society as a whole, making for a happier work/life balance, improved personal relationships, more productivity in the workplace and better customer/client interaction. All of this leads to higher productivity. One of the ways we get men involved is by engaging White Ribbon Ambassadors, who act as role models within their communities and workplaces.

To become White Ribbon Accredited organisations need to recruit Ambassadors. I speak regularly with White Ribbon Ambassadors who are doing really valuable work within their organisations to influence change and create an environment of equality and respect across the whole organisation. In demonstrating White Ribbon values they are influencing real change, empowering their employees and fostering positive well-being at all levels.

As part of the 16 Days of Action, we ask all organisations to consider the real changes that they can make. Equality, safeguarding and awareness are not just values to have within our varied cultures as a society but also within the infrastructure of workplaces and our public services. Awareness means understanding that violence against women is an issue for all of us and that there needs to be organisational as well as individual change to achieve this.