BSG Coalition to End Violence launches Purple Ribbon Campaign

Gone are the days of “minding my own business” or “it hasn’t anything to do with me or mine.” Or at least it needs to be.

Bullying has become a huge part of our daily lives. Our children learn about the effects it has on others, how we shouldn’t stand by, but “STAND UP!” Bullying, however, doesn’t just happen to our kids or in school. On any given day in Canada, more than 3, 300 women, with their children, are forced to leave their homes to seek refuge in an emergency shelter to escape domestic violence.  It is also reported that nearly half of all Canadian women have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16. THIS MUST STOP!

As part of Newfoundland & Labrador’s Violence Prevention Initiative, members of the BSG Coalition to End Violence and the BSG Women’s Center launched their Purple Ribbon Campaign on Monday, November 25, 2013. Handing out purple ribbon car magnets and lapel pins to patrons on Main St., members encouraged patrons to remember those women who have suffered violence at the hands of a loved one or a stranger and to educate and encourage everyone to do their part to prevent this violence.

The Purple Ribbon Campaign is a 16 day drive to promote the unacceptability of violence against women.  Beginning with the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, the campaign carries through Dec. 6, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women and ends on Dec. 10.

If, when driving down Main Street, Stephenville you happen upon all the purple and wonder what it is about, take the time to remember, violence is everyone’s business.  Just as you encourage your child to STAND UP, so should you.  Wear a purple ribbon, not just for these sixteen days, but every day.

 

Additional note: There will be a vigil held on Dec. 6 at the College of the North Atlantic’s main campus in Stephenville beginning at 1 pm to remember the fourteen women who were murdered at L’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989.  All are welcomed to attend!