White Ribbon UK
White Ribbon is the UK’s leading charity engaging men and boys to end violence against women and girls.
Their mission is to prevent violence against women and girls by addressing its root causes. They aim to change long established, and harmful, attitudes, systems and behaviours around masculinity that perpetuate gender inequality and men’s violence against women.
White Ribbon UK’s work is preventative, wanting to end violence before it starts.
White Ribbon Accreditation
Royal Holloway confirmed our commitment to working to end men's violence against women and became a White Ribbon accredited institution in 2021. We agreed to take actions to raise awareness and demonstrate our efforts to working to end violence against women and girls.
White Ribbon Promise
We encourage all members of our community, especially men, to take the promise ever use, excuse or remain silent about men’s violence against women. You can make the promise here.
We joined together as a community to help #ChangeTheStory and end male violence against women.
Our Harassment & Wellbeing Advisers encouraged students and staff to make the promise and to commit to an action to help #ChangeTheStory. We also sought to raise awareness of charities and local organisations we work with on issues of violence and harassment and to encourage our community to share concerns and seek advice where needed.
As a White Ribbon accredited university we are united White Ribbon Day on Friday 25 November. In 2022 , White Ribbon Day fell on the same week as the launch of the FIFA men’s World Cup and so was a great time for us to focus on the good that can come from unifying and supporting one common cause. #TheGoal did just that, bringing men and boys together to think about how they can make a positive difference to achieve equality and safety for women and girls.
On our Egham campus our Harassment & Wellbeing Advisers were available for students and staff in the Davison building. We re-stated our commitment to the campaign and encouraged our community to identify how they could help prevent violence against women and girls. We asked everyone, especially men, to make the White Ribbon Promise to never use, excuse or remain silent about men’s violence against women and invited our community to collect a white ribbon to show their support. The event had a World Cup theme - with the chance to take a selfie with our replica World Cup trophy, show support for your home nation football team, test your goal scoring skills, play hover football and more. We also flew our White Ribbon flag above Founder’s building on the day and over the next week.
Our first White Ribbon day took place on Thursday 25 November 2021. We encouraged our staff and student community to make the White Ribbon promise, collect a White Ribbon to wear to show their support, and teams engaged in conversations around how we can all work to make our community a safer place for women.
White Ribbon Ambassadors are men, from all walks of life, who are working with us to change the cultures that lead to violence against women. Royal Holloway's White Ribbon Ambassadors are Professor Mark Fellowes (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Academic Strategy, Planning & Resources) and Dr Nick Barratt (Executive Director of Student Journey).
White Ribbon Champions play an essential role in our work by encouraging men to get involved by finding opportunities to inspire and inform; through presentations, conversations and social media. Our Champions are women and people who do not identify as being a man. Royal Holloway's White Ribbon Champions are Professor Tracy Bhamra (Provost & Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Global) and Helen Groenendaal (Director of Student Life).
To understand more about our White Ribbon promise please speak to our Harassment & Wellbeing Advisers, Chris Evans and Steve Stubbs. You can contact them by email.
