Kim Pham
29 November 2016: Staff and students from the University of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ have renewed their pledge against gender-based violence at a White Ribbon Day event on campus last week.
At the morning tea, held on Friday 25 November, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design and White Ribbon ambassador Lyndon Anderson led attendees in swearing an oath acknowledging that men’s violence against women is everyone’s issue.
The University also showed its commitment to the White Ribbon campaign to prevent and respond to violence against women by holding a number of events during the week including painting a white ribbon on the grass at the Southern Concourse.
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University of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ staff and students acknowledged that domestic violence is an issue for the whole community on White Ribbon Day. Photo: Kim Pham.
Academics from the Faculty of Business, Government and Law held a seminar to discuss the topic of gender, while ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½U hosted a sausage sizzle on the Concourse with the proceeds donated to White Ribbon.
University of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Vice-Chancellor and President Deep Saini said that any type of violence, especially gender-based violence, was unacceptable.
“The issue of violence against women or family violence is not a private matter. It is a matter for the whole society,” Professor Saini said.
“We’ve been conscious of domestic violence for some time, we’ve been talking about it and trying to do something about it right from the start. We continue to remain committed to do so in the future.”
Dean of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership and Strategy Peter Radoll also spoke at the morning tea and touched on the prevalence of domestic violence in the Indigenous community. However, he said it was a misconception that it was a culture-based issue.
“Research shows that Aboriginal and Torres Islander women are 34 times more likely to be hospitalised for domestic violence. One might assume that domestic violence is being perpetrated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men but you might be interested to know that 55 per cent are married to non-Indigenous males,” he said.
“It’s not an issue in just our community it’s also an issue in the non-Indigenous community. There is no one, single cause for domestic violence. Rather, there is a multitude of causes particularly in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, such as oppression, incarceration, financial problems, a lack of education and more.”
The University of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ has been a White Ribbon accredited workplace for the past three years. It has also been recognised as an employer of choice for gender equality for the past nine years.
As part of the University’s accreditation process, staff have been invited to complete the White Ribbon Survey to assess their awareness of the issue of men’s violence against women. It can be accessed .
Other White Ribbon ambassadors at the University of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ include Chancellor Tom Calma, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½U CEO Joe Roff and associate dean (education) Scott Pearsall.