Shellharbour City Council has been successful in gaining White Ribbon Workplace Accreditation by illustrating a best practice approach to the program.
The White Ribbon Workplace Accreditation report states that Council had demonstrated strong leadership and commitment to the program, successfully engaging with the community and collaborated with other organisations in the quest to stop violence against women.
Shellharbour Mayor Marianne Saliba thanked Council staff and her fellow Councillors for supporting and implementing this important work.
“Our Council has zero tolerance of violence against women. We wanted to commit ourselves to doing all we could from an organisational perspective to stop this scourge on society,” Cr Saliba said.
The program builds on existing gender equality and diversity initiatives, providing tools to strengthen a culture of respect and gender equality at all levels of the organisation.
The program supports organisations to respond to and prevent violence against women, whether it occurs inside or outside the organisation, through supporting women experiencing violence, holding perpetrators to account.
This involves supporting all employees to challenge inappropriate behaviour and strengthening gender equality within the broader community.
Cr Saliba said it was important to note that while most violence against women was perpetrated by men, it should be broadly understood that the overwhelming majority of men were not violent.
“This is a very important point. Most men find violence against women abhorrent. They are in a position of influence and can work to change the social and cultural conditions that contribute to men’s violence against women, by shaping the attitudes and behaviours of other men.”
