Opinion - Dane Haskell - White Ribbon campaign events for November

Dane Haskell is the co-ordinator for Taranaki Safe Families Trust.

Kia ora all, November has arrived which means Taranaki Safe Families Trust moves into its busiest time of the year – The White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) .

In last month's column we spoke about what White Ribbon is. The WRC is a global movement of men and boys working to end male violence against women and girls.

Firstly, the Waitara Champions White Ribbon Poker Run is on Saturday, November 14. Registration at Waitara District Citizens & Service Club from 9.30am to 10.30am. Riders start their journey at 11am then stop in Stratford at Tutaki Youth Inc at 11.45am. Next stop is in Opunake in partnership with Opunake Lions. The final stop is in Okato before returning to Waitara at 3.30pm for a barbecue and prizegiving.

The registration fee is $20 and all riders receive a prize. For more information please call Sherie Nicoll – 021 145 7928

We asked the public to submit their best photo of Taranaki men demonstrating White Ribbon values. These included qualities such as promoting safe and caring relationships; encouraging respect and rejecting violence against women, challenging rigid gender roles and striving for equality.

We received some awesome pictures and you can vote online by clicking this link https://survey.app.do/white-ribbon-photo-competition-voting-survey to register your vote.

Community engagement at the Hāwera town square is on Thursday, November 19 from 11am-1pm, and at the Huatoki Plaza in New Plymouth on Friday, November 20 from 11am-1pm. Voting closes on Sunday, November 22 and the winners will be announced on Wednesday, November 25, which is the official White Ribbon Day.

Finally, we are running a couple of social media projects. The first one is 30 Days/ 30 Men/ 30 Messages – These are short videos of local men standing up to support the campaign and sharing their thoughts on various aspects of the kaupapa.

The second one is 30 Days/ 30 Locations/ 1 White Ribbon. These are pictures of people/groups/businesses/organisations posing next to a large White Ribbon in various locations around Taranaki showing that they support the values of White Ribbon. One video and picture is posted on our Facebook page for each day of November. Please go to Taranaki Safe Families Trust Facebook page to check it out.

As you can see it's very busy for the month and we need the community to get involved. Be part of the solution.