TW: This article contains potentially distressing material.

By Anthea Sully

Today, Friday, the man guilty of the murder of Grace Millane, in New Zealand in December 2018, has finally been sentenced to life. Grace Millane was backpacking in New Zealand and had recently graduated from Lincoln University. Grace was doing what any young woman should be able to do free from fear of men’s violence; travel, meet new people and explore. Families and friends should never have to sit in a court room and hear such terrible details of how someone that they deeply loved was taken from them. Our thoughts will continue to be with Grace's family and her friends.

With a case such as this it can be easy to suggest that this is a ‘one off’ and ‘extreme’, the actions of a lone individual. But we live in cultures where violence against women is normalised and often unchallenged. From an early age boys are presented with concepts of ‘what it means to be a man’, that makes a society that is unsafe for women. Men, themselves, can make a difference by thinking through their own behaviour, challenging themselves and others, and looking to make a difference. The crown prosecutor in the Millane case said how, ‘the crime had a profound impact on young women’s sense of safety in New Zealand, with many reassessing their relationships with men, or dating life, and how safe they should feel’.  All men need to hear that and think about how they, themselves, can show that respect and care is possible.  The mission of White Ribbon UK and our partner White Ribbon New Zealand are part of making this change. We have both received support for our important work in memory of Grace Millane.

#lovegrace