We Speak Up: How Awareness Matters is Preparing for White Ribbon Day 2025
Are you ready for White Ribbon Day this year? This year’s campaign is ‘We Speak Up’- so let’s talk about what Awareness Matters has planned and what you can do to speak up about violence against women.
What is White Ribbon Day?
Before we discuss Awareness Matter’s campaign, let’s explain what White Ribbon Day is and how you can get involved.
The White Ribbon Campaign began in Canada in 1991, founded by men who wanted to speak out against men’s violence toward women. They work throughout the year with individuals and organisations to intervene before harmful attitudes and behaviours towards women and girls can take place, developing allyship in men and boys because all men have a role to play in preventing and ending violence against women and girls.
“Allyship,” they say, “is a central message of the White Ribbon; it represents men taking responsibility to challenge this issue and being allies, every day, to stop violence against women and girls before it starts”.
The UN designated the 25th November as the date for the International day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, placed at the start of the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, which runs from the 25thNovember to the 10th December, which is the UN’s Human Rights Day.
White Ribbon Day encourages individuals, organisations, schools, workplace and sports clubs to make the White Ribbon Promise and pledge to stand against violence against women and girls, and acts as an opportunity for men to become involved in allyship to women and girls experiencing gender-based violence.
Why does it matter?
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) remains a serious, pervasive issue in the UK and beyond:
More than 1 in 4 women in the UK have been raped or sexually assaulted since the age of 16 (Office of National Statistics 2023)
86% of 11-21 year old girls avoid going out at night when it’s dark to stay safe (Girl Guiding 2025)
3 in 5 women have experienced sexual harassment, bullying or verbal abuse in the workplace (Trades Union Congress 2023)
Because of these statistics, the White Ribbon campaign emphasises that while not all men commit violence, all men can take action to prevent it.
It might be tempting to think that only ‘big’ interventions matter- but the campaign’s emphasis is clear: every day actions count.
Why? Because when contempt, disrespect and harassment are allowed to persist unchecked, they create the conditions in which more serious violence can occur. By challenging the smaller behaviours, we change the climate- we shift expectations of what’s acceptable.
If someone hears a sexist joke and laughs, deciding it’s banter, then it implies a tolerance to belief systems that actively harm and belittle women. Whereas, if someone were to hear that joke and call it out by saying “come on, that’s not okay”, or “I didn’t like that comment”, then the climate shifts away from tolerance of misogyny to understanding it to be unacceptable.
How can I get involved?
This year’s message is ‘We Speak Up’- so that’s your mission! Here are some of the methods the campaign suggests:
Make the White Ribbon Promise: never use, excuse or stay silent about men’s violence against women
Share a photo or video on social media explaining why you speak up for women and girls. Use the hashtag #WeSpeakUp
At work, in school or at clubs: organise discussion sessions, pledge-making events, or display campaign materials- you can find appropriate materials on the White Ribbon UK website
Wear a white ribbon- it acts as a visible symbol of standing against violence against women, and is a great conversation starter
Some local authorities and groups will run events- go and be part of one!
There are also, of course, 16 Days of Action after White Ribbon Day, so we suggest you pledge to do one thing each of those days to stand against violence against women, including all of the above, and:
Educate yourself on the harrowing statistics of violence against women and girls- start at the websites of Girl Guiding, Women’s Aid and White Ribbon UK, who all keep up-to-date statistics from their own surveys.
Reflect on how you excuse or challenge sexism and misogyny in your own life
Talk to the men in your life about violence against women and girls to get them considering the role they play in letting it be acceptable.
Watch and share the information we’ll be sharing on our social media accounts (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn)
What will Awareness Matters be doing?
To mark White Ribbon Day and the 16 Days of Action, Awareness Matters have their own 16 Day Campaign: The Reality of Misogyny.
Every day, you can tune into any of our social media accounts to see a new post about the pervasiveness of misogyny, its impact, and what we can actively do to challenge it. Misogyny underpins the beliefs that cause violence against women and girls, so, from 25th November to 10th December, Awareness Matters is calling it out.
Posts include exploring the reality and statistics of misogyny, signs of misogyny in pop culture, and interviews with Cathy Press, Founder of Awareness Matters, Paula Devaux, a trainer for Awareness Matters, and Andrew ‘Bernie’ Bernard, professional speaker and author on violence against women and girls.
Go to our Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn pages every day from the 25th November to the 10th December to be part of our campaign- share posts with your friends and family so even more people can pledge to stand up to violence against women and girls.
To learn more about White Ribbon Day, visit their website at: www.whiteribbon.org.uk
Awareness Matters is a training organisation offering trauma-informed programmes, trainings, and workshops on abuse-related issues, including intimate partner violence, teenage relationship abuse, and child to parent violence. Interested in hearing more about our work? Click to see our trainings below or continue to explore the website!