Vanessa Lam
9 January 2015: University of Canberra staff and students have pledged to end violence against women at White Ribbon Day events held across campus.
As a White Ribbon accredited workplace, the University supports Australia's only national, male-led campaign to end men's violence against women.
At the major event Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker led attendees at an afternoon tea in swearing an oath to "ensure that staff can feel safe and supported at work".
"The University of Canberra is a complex, multicultural community where almost 60 per cent of our staff and students are women. We see domestic violence as a work health and safety issue as well as a social wrong and we need to take an active stance to condemn it," Professor Parker said.
"The data suggest that two out of every three women who report violence at home are in paid employment and almost one in three stalked by their previous partner report that the perpetrator has loitered outside their workplace."
Also taking part in the event was dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design Lyndon Anderson who spoke about being a White Ribbon ambassador and law professor Patricia Easteal AM who discussed the limitations of law reform and the need for social attitudes to change. Among the attendees was cultural affairs officer Jason Frohnmayer from the Embassy of the United States of America, who has been an active supporter of the White Ribbon campaign for many years.
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Patricia Easteal, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) Nick Klomp, Lyndon Anderson, Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker and US Embassy's cultural affairs officer Jason Frohnmayer. Photo: Vanessa Lam. |
At the University's second White Ribbon Day event held on November 25, the Advancement, Marketing and Communications team at the Scrivener building hosted a barbeque.
The University is one of 23 organisations in Australia to become a White Ribbon accredited workplace. Its commitment to gender equality in the workplace was also recently recognised by being named an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency for the seventh year running.
For more information about White Ribbon visit their website and for more information on the University's involvement visit our website.
