White Ribbon
General

Westgate Says NO to Violence

Dec 3, 2015

The students and staff of Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute are standing up to gender based violence by promoting the White Ribbon campaign. This year, the Westgate Social Justice League, also known as the Gay-Straight Alliance, in conjunction with Student Council, and Westgate Athletics is running the White Ribbon Campaign to educate and oppose any violence against women and girls.

White ribbons will be available for students to wear and all proceeds will be donated to the Beendigan Crisis Home and/or Faye Peterson Transition House. Westgate students will be encouraged to stop by the Westgate White Ribbon booth to take a selfie in a special frame and tweet the photo to @westjustleague with the hashtag #NOTokay.

The White Ribbon campaign is designed to commemorate “The National Day of Remembrance and Action on violence against Women.” The day established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada, marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at l’Ecole Polytechique de Montreal.

“This campaign provides a symbol, support, resources and inspiration for everyone, including all men and boys committed to ending violence against women.”,” says Carlos Santander-Maturana, Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute Education Assistant and White Ribbon Organizer.

Nationally, the campaign aims to end violence against women by:

  • Challenging everyone to speak out, and think about their own beliefs, language and actions.
  • Educating young people, especially young men and boys, on the issue through the educational resources we produce.
  • Raising public awareness of the issue.
  • Working in partnership with women’s organizations, the corporate sector, the media and other partners to create a future with no violence against women.
  • Supporting White Ribbon Campaigns around with our experience, resources and networks.

Today, this volunteer campaign is run in over sixty countries. Across Canada, the focus is on engaging youth on the issue of gender equality, respect and healthy relationships, so as to build character and create good citizens.

For more information and to take the online pledge to end violence against women and girls, please visit www.whiteribbon.ca.