District Attorney to Encourage Boston Celtics Fans to Take the White Ribbon Day Pledge
March 17, 2014
Today, Employers Against Domestic Violence, Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter and Jane Doe Inc., announced a partnership with the Boston Celtics to help end violence against women. For the 3rd year in a row, these groups will hold a pre-game promotion at TD Garden on March 19th as part of the 7th Annual Massachusetts White Ribbon Day Campaign, an initiative that calls upon men to be positive role models in their own lives and to speak out for human rights, for equality and for the safety and liberty of survivors everywhere.
Organizers are bringing thousands of white ribbons to the game with the goal of seeing white not only on the court but also throughout the stands. Men and boys attending the game can stop by the information tables on the Concourse before heading into the game to take the pledge and put on a ribbon.
Spearheaded in Massachusetts by Jane Doe Inc. (JDI), the Massachusetts White Ribbon Day Campaign calls upon men to be part of the solution in ending rape, sexual assault, stalking and domestic violence – regardless of gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. White Ribbon Day is connected with the international White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) that was created by a handful of Canadian men in 1991 on the second anniversary of one man’s massacre of fourteen women in Montreal. They began the White Ribbon Campaign to urge men to speak out against violence against women. Today, the WRC is a worldwide campaign in over 60 countries that has collected well over 5 million signatures and growing.
Craig Norberg-Bohm, JDI’s Men’s Initiative Coordinator, explains, “Our focus is to mobilize men ready to help and ready to become engaged active bystanders. The crux of the White Ribon Day Campaign is for men to make both a personal pledge to live by the values of the campaign and a public commitment to invite other men and boys in their lives to join them by choosing what roles they can play in ending violence against women.”
Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter has recently created a county-wide White Ribbon campaign and will focus on working across the county to invite men and boys to take the pledge and be a voice to ending violence against women. DA Sutter’s office is also affiliated with the Employers Against Domestic Violence. Assistant District Attorney Courtney Cahill, who heads up District Attorney Sutter’s Domestic Violence Unit, serves as Board President of the EADV, providing a critical partnership to assist DA Sutter in his goals to reduce domestic violence.”
Since launching the campaign in Massachusetts in 2008, Jane Doe Inc. has recruited over 500 White Ribbon Day Ambassadors and tens of thousands of men and boys have signed the pledge. Local communities have conducted a range of outreach efforts from assemblies at high schools to proclamations in town halls.
Celtics fans are also invited to become White Ribbon Day Ambassadors and invite their friends and colleagues to join them. The pledge, ambassador sign up and event materials are available at www.janedoe.org/whiteribbonday.
For more information on MA White Ribbon Day and to view a Public Service Announcement featuring Governor Patrick, visit http://www.janedoe.org/whiteribbonday.