White Ribbon seeks new members

AFTER a tough year which saw domestic violence rates increase, White Ribbon Ballarat are looking forward with a new vision to make a positive change in the community.

With White Ribbon Australia having been re-established, the president of White Ribbon Ballarat Laura Springer said there is a sense of excitement about its future direction and its impact.

“We try to get the word out about gender-based violence, we’re trying to encourage men and boys to look at their behaviour and see if there’s anything that could lead to violence,” she said.

“What they can do is be more respectful and conduct themselves in a safer way.”

“We’re always looking for new ideas and ways to get the message through and to continue having those conversations.”

The Ballarat group is currently looking for new members to join the committee with the aim of gaining diverse representation to ensure everyone is seen and heard.

Hoping to reach as many people as possible with the call out, Ms Springer said the existing committee are excited to welcome

new faces of the team.

“As long as you have a passion and are interested in what we are trying to achieve and you want to encourage those conversations to continue, then we welcome to have to on board,” she said.

“At the moment, we’ve been meeting monthly on Zoom but hopefully, we will be able to meet in person in a board room.

“There’s a lot of group work, coming together and think about the best way to put out our ideas and then taking that to the wider community.”

Although COVID restrictions have made the work of White Ribbon Ballarat more challenging, Ms Springer said in 2021 they hope to reinstate some more community-based events and initiatives to support the vision.

“With COVID, we’ve had to focus in on our social media to encourage information coming out that way rather than events,” she said.

“We need to keep raising awareness of the matter, this is affecting people’s lives on a day to day basis because White Ribbon continues to do what we’re doing because our main goal is to eliminate violence.

“If we can keep going to get to that goal then it’s all been worth it.”

Email [email protected] to enquire about a spot on the Ballarat committee or search for White Ribbon Ballarat’s Facebook page for more information.