Roughly, half of the world’s population is male. The other half are females connected to them: daughters, mothers, wives, sisters, aunts, lovers, and friends. Roughly, will no longer be tolerated. Roughly, domestic violence harms more adult females than it does men. Does roughly only half of the population want domestic violence to stop? No! Way more than half of the world’s population is supporting the end of violence against females. Males and females unite. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and White Ribbon Day are upon us.

White Ribbon Day (WRD) falls on November 25. WRD is a male led campaign against violence in the community. It is a day where hundreds of men across the world wear a white ribbon as a pledge to help eliminate violence against women. Go those men who care enough to take action, to publicly say no to violence against women.

An interesting ad campaign depicts men saying they would do anything to for their daughters. Quoted straight from their website; “Given most fathers would do anything to protect their daughters, the campaign highlights that of all the things you'd be prepared to do as a father, wearing a white ribbon is potentially one of the most powerful acts you could undertake to help protect your daughter's future. Why? Because it has the potential to reduce this sickening statistic - that 57% of Australian women will experience violent male abuse in their lifetime."

The proof will be in the eating of the pudding. Will men actually protect their daughters against violence, or do they just say they would do anything to protect?

The WRD website also hosts a blog debating the White Ribbon Campaign and the issue of gendered violence against women that the campaign addresses. This is what I have just left on the blog:

I support a "Big Tent" approach. While my personal philosophy is founded in discourse around feminism and a gendered structure of domestic and family violence, I am not single minded and I see the value in seeking a common ground.

The early waves of feminism were required to produce societal change. Change was affected: to a degree. However, the phallocentric language that continues across many cultures renders recent waves of feminism just as ineffective as our leading sisters. A common language across cultures is sorely required for future movement.

Many women do not speak the language of men, and vise versa. A "Big Tent" approach may well offer a common goal and a common language, despite ideological and definitional differences. Consensus does not mean everyone has to agree, just that the majority can agree to live with the chosen outcome at that time. The promise of a "Big Tent" marketing approach to consensus ending violence against women is indeed appealing to me. Surely we can learn from these different views, surely we can together end violence against women, despite knowing that some women also perpetrate violence against men. They are two separate issues at this stage and they require two very different strategies. The strategy today offered on the table is that of ending violence against women.

I support WRD and the international elimination of violence against women. If tomorrow a movement looks at supporting non-perpetrating men affected by domestic violence, I would also support that. I look forward to the day though, that prevention takes a primary health focus and addresses the issues early in a child's life - no gender, just a zero tolerance of violence.

I encourage all people against domestic violence to wear a white ribbon on November 25. By supporting those affected now, we are ultimately socializing our next generation into a protective mindset of a culture of zero tolerance.

Australia says no to violence against women. What do you think?