Six years ago a handful of men took the first steps down a road seldom travelled by men. We decided we had a responsibility to urge men to speak out against violence against women. We knew that most men were not violent against women. But we also knew that the vast majority of us remained silent. Through our silence we allowed the violence to continue.

We decided that wearing a white ribbon would be a personal pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women.

From the start, the primary goal of the WRC has been to encourage men to look at our own attitudes and behaviour and to learn to challenge other men to stop all forms of violence against women. We believe that as more men and boys take responsibility for challenging ourselves and others, then the epidemic levels of violence against women will finally end.

In six challenging years we've moved from an idea organized out of a living room, to active campaigns in schools and communities right across Canada, in various areas of the United States, Australia, Norway, and with growing interest beyond.

From Pathway to Highway

Just as the problem of violence against women isn't one on the margins of society, our efforts to reach men can not be marginal. We know that we must find ways to involve the vast majority of men.

Walking along a little pathway can be nice: it's quiet and cosy. But there's only room for a few of you. White Ribbon wants to make room for hundreds of thousands, even millions of men and boys. To do so, we have to find the highways where men travel.

First and foremost that has meant working in the school system. We do so to reach boys whose ideas about the other sex and about themselves as men are still forming. White Ribbon has produced a series of education kits that are now used in over a thousand junior-highs and high schools across Canada. Many more schools hold annual White Ribbon activities, doing educational work and raising money for local women's programs.

We also want to reach men where they work, and men and women where they shop. So a second and rapidly growing area of our work has been with corporations and trade unions. We have worked hard to develop these partnerships for several important reasons: most adult Canadians spend a good part of each day at work. A trade union or company can act as a transmission belt, bringing the ideas of White Ribbon to a large audience in offices and on the shop floor.

The corporate partnerships also allow us to reach millions of Canadians as consumers through in-store fund raising, ribbon distributing and poster signing.

Finally the support of corporations and unions is important because the WRC does not receive government money. It relies entirely on support from these groups and many concerned individuals.

Finding a highway where men can join women in stopping violence requires finding common ground among men. We're particularly proud that the WRC is a place where those who have many areas of disagreement about political, economic, and social issues can work together. By building unity, we can not only better address these issues, but men can find ways to work together in a cooperative and positive environment.

A Big New Effort to Raise Money for Women

Although our primary focus is to do educational work to reach men and boys, we also want to support the important work of women's shelters, rape crisis centres, and women's educational programs across Canada. Over the past six years, we have only done this in a somewhat scattered way: we have encouraged schools, workplaces, and communities across Canada to raise money for these women's programs.

Women have urged us to do more and, this year, the WRC is rising to the challenge. We have formed a partnership with two women's organizations and are launching a major fall fund raising effort. Our national fund raising efforts this fall with corporations such as Shoppers Drug Mart and Fairweathers are expected to raise over a hundred thousand dollars in the first year and, hopefully, much more in the years ahead. This year, eighty percent of the money raised will go directly to the work of two organizations. The Canadian Women's Foundation will receive the lion's share to distribute to anti-violence women's efforts and support services across Canada. A smaller portion will go to the December 6th Fund which is setting up a revolving loan fund to help women escape abusive relationships. The other twenty percent raised will go to the WRC to help offset the increased level of education and outreach activities that this fund raising initiative will create.

Future Plans

We're dusting off our long-term (but never fully realized) desire to have major activities around Father's Day, to help foster positive images of manhood and of men as nurturers and care givers.

1998 is the year we finally pay off our start-up debt. This will allow us to add staff (which has fluctuated between one and three people) and hire others to expand our outreach and education work.

There is interest on many US college campuses, in some South African townships, and in various European and Latin American countries to start White Ribbon Campaigns. We want to work closer with these emerging groups to involve men not only in Canada but around the world, in working alongside our sisters to end the epidemic of violence against women.