Today is White Ribbon Day, a day for the community to come together to show their commitment to ending men’s violence against women.

To mark the occasion, staff at Northern Hospital Epping are holding a bake sale in the foyer until 4 pm – all proceeds will be donated directly to White Ribbon Australia and Berry Street.

White Ribbon Australia strives towards a world free of family violence through primary prevention, engaging men, advocacy, and raising public awareness.

Northern Health is only the second health service in Victoria to be awarded White Ribbon Accreditation.

Northern Health’s primary catchments, the City of Hume, City of Whittlesea and Mitchell Shire Council, experience the highest rates of family violence in Victoria.

Continuing the movement to end violence against women is the ’16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’ campaign which will commence 25 November (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) and run until 10 December (Human Rights Day).

The campaign recognises that family violence is a global health issue, with one in three women worldwide experiencing gender-based violence (UN Women 2018).

To show our support and increase awareness, hope and unity, we will be running the following activities during the 16 days:

• Heart Leaves: This involves writing a message of support on a cut out leaf which will be displayed on a tree in the foyer.
• Fingerprint Tree: Place a fingerprint on a tree to show your commitment to ending gender-based violence.
• Polished Man: Paint a fingernail to show your support to raise awareness of, and help prevent violence against children (one child dies every five minutes as a result of violence).
• A Touch of Orange: Have a small orange image on your face for the day to open discussions around awareness and show support to end violence.

On the final day of the campaign, Monday 10 December, our tree full of messages of support will be joined with other trees from public hospitals across Victoria, and displayed in the city at Southbank Spillway between 12 pm – 2 pm. Everyone is encouraged to attend.

For more information about 16 Days of Activism, please click here.