International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November25 is also known as White Ribbon Day.
The local campaign was launched last week in the Warwick fire station grounds with many of the sponsors getting together for a group photo.
The white ribbon is a symbol of the ongoing campaign against domestic violence. The initiative to use white ribbons on public vehicles came from Sergeant Shane Reid of Warwick Police.In 2010 Sergeant Reid organised local businesses to sponsor the printing of500 stickers to display on the district’s police vehicles. The stickers on public vehicles to promote White Ribbon Day expanded around Qld in 2011 through Queensland Police and numerous organisations and groups. This year the number of community, business and private vehicles with stickers attached is over 5,000.
Sergeant Reid said “The aim of the stickers is to promote awareness of the domestic violence campaign, encourage reporting of it, and to reduce the overall number of domestic violence incidents.”
The current sponsors of White Ribbon Day in this region are Fraser’s Transport, Southern Downs Regional Council, Wickham Freighters, Yellow Cabs, Broderick Transport, Qld Fire Brigade, Qld Ambulance and Qld Police.
People needing assistance or counselling regarding domestic violence can call DV Connect on 1800 811 811.
For more on White Ribbon Day please see our special feature on page 23.
