For the 15th day of the 16 Days of Activism, we are pleased to share a special blog list of 16 commitments from men to become upstanders taking action to stop Violence Against Women from our partner, Breakthrough/Bell Bajao. These commitments were collected via their “Ring The Bell” campaign which kicked off on International Women’s Day 2013.
If you are a man who believes that violence against women and girls has no place in your community, your culture, or the world, please consider joining the “Ring The Bell” campaign and making your pledge to stop the violence.
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At Breakthrough we’ve spent over ten years working on issues of violence against women. One of the most frequent questions we find ourselves answering is “I really want to help – what can I do to end violence against women?”
On the 8th of March this year, we launched Ring The Bell – a campaign where we asked you to make a tangible promise to ACT to end violence against women. For 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence, we’ve picked 16 of the simplest, and most tangible promises we received. Without further ado, Here are 16 easy ways you can make a difference.
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Commitment #1: Promote another campaign
| Zina Tompkins | I promise to #RingTheBell by using this campaign as inspiration in my church network to change gender inequality in my community and then globally. |
Commitment #2: Start your own campaign
| Iren Shin | I promise to #RingTheBell by organizing my “Know Your Rights” campaign for Rutgers students and N.B. community members. |
Commitment #3: Host an Event
| Al Black | I promise to host a special Poetry/Music event to, “End Violence Against Women” with all male performers |
Commitment #4: Challenge Your Surroundings
| William Ligon-Bruno | I promise to challenge friends and peers who disrespect women or girls and be a presence and a force in ending violence against them. |
Commitment #5: Challenge Disrespect on the Internet
| Adam Souza | I promise to challenging friends or internet commentators who disrespect women or girls. |
Commitment #6: Demonstrate Respect
| Richard Sjolin Jr | I promise to treat EVERYONE with equal respect, no matter their gender, identity, or beliefs. |
Commitment #7: Engage in Respectful Relationships with Women and Girls
| Dipankar Gupta | I hereby promise that I will not look at women inappropriate fashion and I will make sure that my friends also do the same. I promise that if I have feelings towards a woman,I will accept rejection in a mature fashion. I promise that I will show chivalry with no ulterior motive. I promise that I will help women (or any person for that matter) without any motive. I promise that I will not discriminate against women in any fashion. I promise that I will seek permission from a woman for anything. And I promise to protect every woman I love. |
Commitment #8: Talk about it
| Molly Williams | I promise to ring the bell by having conversations with men in my life about violence prevention and elimination. |
Commitment #9: Raise Daughters to Only Accept Respect
| Kelly Christensen | I promise to fight violence in my community and to raise my daughter to never ever accept anything less than respect from others. |
Commitment #10: Raise Sons to Respect Women and Girls
| Bill Cole | I promise to teach my son every day to know that women are in every way his equal. |
Commitment #11: Raise awareness
| Anabel Ronconi | I promise to raise awareness about violence against women and in general,teach/show/lead nonviolence by example,help others to stand up for themselves |
Commitment #12: Challenge Misogynistic Patterns of Thought
| Edward Zeauskas | I promise to Ring the Bell by changing the patterns of thought, and normative roles portrayed by men and women. |
Commitment #13: Demand Gender Sensitive Reporting
| Gias Uddin | I promise to ring the bell by:encouraging media people to publish gender sensitive report |
Commitment #14: Be a Role Model
| Mitch Pryor | I promise to challenge friends, colleagues, and coworkers who disrespect women or girls. I promise to be a good role model for my children. |
Commitment #15: Respect My Partner and Model good Respectful Relationships
| Lynn Harris | I promise to ring the bell by treating my daughter and son equally and making sure they see that my husband and I treat each other with deep respect. |
Commitment #16: Be A Bystander Who Intervenes
| Francisco Cividanes | I’m in. I promise to stand up to the bullies not only with my words but through action as well. |
Think you can do more? Sir Richard Branson, Sir Patrick Stewart, Michael Bolton and others have made their own commitments to end violence against women. What’s yours?