Salem State to Participate in White Ribbon Day

SALEM, MA – Salem State University has signed up to participate in White Ribbon Day to encourage men to stand up against gender-based violence. University staff will set up tables around campus to hand out white ribbon pins, encourage students to be part of the solution, and distribute educational materials on the issue.

Colleen Armstrong, program coordinator for Prevention Education Advocacy and Response (or PEAR) at Salem State, said while the event is not only for men, it acts as an invitation to men to take the opportunity to be part of the solution in a historically women’s issue. The event also acknowledges domestic violence against men.

“We have a really wonderful engaged group of students on our campus,” said Armstrong of the response.

White Ribbon Day stemmed from the White Ribbon Movement, which was started by a group of men in Canada in 1991 after a massacre of 14 women on a Montreal campus in 1989. The movement asks men to speak out against violence toward women.

Jane Doe, Inc. launched the movement in Massachusetts in 2008. Salem pledged to wave the White Ribbon Flag this year on March 1.

If students or residents can’t make the Salem State event, Armstrong said anyone can sign up to be an ambassador online at Jane Doe, Inc.

Image via Jake Belcher Photography, Jane Doe Inc.