White Ribbon Australia is getting dragged to filth online for its campaign which encourages donations to “educate” men about violence against women.
Like an onion, there are many layers here.
Posts promoting the campaign appeared on White Ribbon Australia’s social media channels on Wednesday but have since been deleted. As always, it didn’t take long for screenshots to appear on Twitter.
Excuse me pic.twitter.com/xDnUNhKStA
— ange thompson (@AngeMaryClaire) August 24, 2022
a story in two parts pic.twitter.com/l61G2gKZRW
— Leonardo Puglisi (@Leo_Puglisi6) August 24, 2022
sponsoring a man’s education so he knows what violence against women is like some sort of 29-year-old World Vision child pic.twitter.com/VzZsdCTz4J
— Australia’s Girlfriend (@bonsoyflatwhite) August 24, 2022
[pointing at the White Ribbon Christmas card on my fridge] “Oh that’s from the cunt I sponsor. He’s built a well for his apartment block so all the men can go there and not abuse women together.”
— Cam Tyeson (@camtyeson) August 24, 2022
First things first: why on Earth am I, a woman, funding some sort of education program that will teach men how they can go about preventing gender-based violence? Is it not enough that, according to Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a man they know? Now we must pay for men’s schooling so they can learn how to stop perpetuating said violence?
Before anyone says “not all men”, yes, I know. And most obviously, everyone and anyone can donate to the campaign if they so desire — it isn’t solely targeting women by any means. But I don’t believe the onus of educating abusive men falls on regular people’s wallets.
Secondly, White Ribbon Australia is offering discounted rates based on whether you choose to educate a man online or in person. For the small sum of $49, you too can sponsor one man’s education in violence prevention IRL.
But if you choose to donate $19, it’ll go towards one man’s online education. To think, he doesn’t even need to leave the house to learn why he shouldn’t perpetuate abuse against women! Technology these days is truly a wonderful thing.
The whole thing is giving cursed World Vision child.
After swiping social media with all traces of the campaign, White Ribbon Australia apologised via Twitter.
“Sorry, that latest post should not have gone live and was not the message we were intending to share,” the post read.
“When you have a really small team, sometimes these things happen.”
Sorry, that latest post should not have gone live and was not the message we were intending to share. When you have a really small team, sometimes these things happen.
— White Ribbon Aus (@WhiteRibbonAust) August 24, 2022
Accidents most definitely do happen but blaming the slip up on the fact you’re operating with a skeleton crew doesn’t sit right.
First off, someone from White Ribbon thought it would be a good idea to solicit donations *to* a man to not assault women. Then, someone else from White Ribbon blamed that person from their small team. Good, good https://t.co/K7OdpCjE0n pic.twitter.com/kCeUDvKMO0
— Bianca Hall (@_Biancah) August 24, 2022
A spokesman later told us: “Based on some of the commentary we received it became apparent that some people misunderstood the message because of the way it was worded, and this is the reason we decided to remove the post.”
Except for the sheer tone deaf messaging of the campaign, what disgusts me the most is the fact domestic and family violence organisations and support programmes across Australia are chronically underfunded.
In May, Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan delivered the state budget and allocated $34.4 million to several family and domestic violence prevention and support strategies.
But WA’s Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing told the ABC it wasn’t enough to compensate for the severe underfunding the sector had endured for so long.
Last year, the former Coalition government introduced a trial scheme to provide women fleeing violent relationships emergency funds. But per the Sydney Morning Herald, as of May 2022, it was taking more than four weeks on average for women to receive the money.
Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil slammed the scheme, telling the Sydney Morning Herald it appeared to be “poorly planned and underfunded’.
It’s jarring to see a charity that’s dedicated to eliminating gendered violence urging people to support men so they don’t perpetuate abuse, rather than assisting survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence.
