Tower Hamlets Council organised awareness events and took its community safety team out across the borough to engage with residents as part of this year’s campaign for White Ribbon Day and 16 days of activism against gender based violence. The days are marked every year however, continuing to raise the profile of gender-based violence is a priority for the council.
The council and its partners organised a full timetable of awareness and information events from 25 November, which is White Ribbon Day and the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to Tuesday 10 December, Human Rights Day.
White Ribbon Day encourages everyone, including men, to come together to help stop violence against women and girls. It includes signing a pledge to promise to never commit, excuse or remain silent about male violence against women.
Tower Hamlets Council’s Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Hate Crime teams, plus the Women’s Network and Male Allies, encouraged staff at the council to sign the pledge during the 16 days.
Lutfur Rahman, Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said: “It’s estimated that 1 in 12 women will be a victim of gender-based violence every year. This is a shocking statistic, and we are committed to making Tower Hamlets a safe place for everyone.
“These 16 days of activities are just one of the ways we are tackling gender-based violence in Tower Hamlets. We recently published our new VAWG and women’s safety strategy which lays out how we will continue to invest in and work with partners to protect women’s safety across the borough.
“We will continue to call out any form of abuse and harassment, making it clear that it is not acceptable in Tower Hamlets.”
Cllr Abu Talha Chowdhury, Cabinet Member for Safer Communities, said: “Violence against women and girls is everybody’s business and collectively we all have a part to play in working towards a borough where nobody - regardless of ethnicity, gender, class, religion or sexual orientation – feels unsafe on the street or at home.
“Our new VAWG strategy places the safety and promotion of women and girls at the heart of all aspects of council services, as well as spotlighting the unique needs of the most marginalised women. It also centres on the need to bring wider cultural change around misogyny in our society.”
Sufia Alam, Chair of the Tower Hamlets Inter Faith Forum said: “I really hope these 16 days of activities open people’s eyes to the range of gender-based violence that happens around the world every day and what action we can all take to help stop it.
“By marking these important awareness days, we collectively condemn any form of violence against women and girls, showing that it will not be tolerated in our borough.”
Posted on Friday 29th November 2024