White Ribbon Day: How Saints Foundation is tackling gender-based violence
Every year in November, white ribbons are worn across the world in support of the campaign to end violence against women and girls. Here in Southampton, we’re working to address the root causes. Using our Kicks sessions to connect with teenage boys, we’re opening the conversation early to stop the violence before it starts.
Why here? Southampton has one of the highest levels of violence against women and girls in the country. Our city has the 13th highest rate of sexual offences in England (2022), and in just the three years between 2018 and 2021, nearly 20,000 cases of violence against women and girls were reported. The problems we face as a city are stark and Saints Foundation has a role to play in addressing them.
Why us? When our city has a need, we want to help, but more than that, we know our connection to Southampton FC ideally places us to get through to boys and men about this behaviour. We have access to brilliant role models in our players, both Men and Women, and we are proud to show their example to inspire and connect with young people.
How are we engaging? We’re starting with our Premier League Kicks sessions, which engage hundreds of young people across the city every week. Targeting areas where we know violence against women and girls is particularly common, like Millbrook and Redbridge, we’ve been delivering workshops to boys aged 12 to 16, showing them what misogynistic language and gender stereotyping looks like. You can watch a video of one of those sessions below.
And today? Our match against Bristol City falls on one of White Ribbon’s 16 Days of Action, a period of just over two weeks where people and organisations come together to make a stand. Our coaching staff will be proudly wearing their White Ribbons today, showing our fans and our city that violence against women and girls will not be tolerated in Southampton.
What’s next? The fight for better gender equality in our city’s communities is one of our five key focuses – this work will go far beyond this matchday and the White Ribbon 16 Days of Action. We’ve teamed up with key partners to break the cycle here in Southampton, including Yellow Door, a local sexual and domestic abuse charity, who help us reach the right people in the right way with this work.
Want to find out more? You can visit our project pages to find out more about our gender equality work, or visit whiteribbon.org.uk to learn about how you can become a supporter of their mission to end violence against women and girls.
