Leeds United is working in partnership with Leeds City Council's Safer Leeds team to encourage everyone in the city to support campaigns to end violence against women.
The two parties have joined forces for the annual 'White Ribbon' campaign and '16 Days of Action' campaign, which work to raise awareness of domestic abuse and encourage men to promise that they will not commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women.
The 16 Days of Action runs from today (25th November) to Tuesday 10th December and this year focuses on the signs of coercive and controlling behaviour and stalking which are often not recognised as behaviours of domestic abuse. This can be all the more difficult for people who are reliant on the person controlling them for their care and support, people who for example, need the person to make them meals, or to help them out of bed or to leave the house; or for people, such as those with learning disabilities or dementia who may find it harder to understand what is happening or to speak up for themselves.
Today also marks ‘White Ribbon Day’ which is the international day dedicated to ending violence against women. The club have shown their support for the White Ribbon and 16 Days of Action campaigns with the creation of a film to raise awareness of the spikes in violence against women during sporting events. The film features a variety of first-team players as well as a warning from one survivor whose son was killed as a result of domestic violence.
The short film will be shown on the big screen at Elland Road on Saturday 30th November, before Leeds United take on Middlesbrough in the Sky Bet Championship, with the players’ also wearing White Ribbon campaign t-shirts during the warm up.
Councillor Debra Coupar, Leeds City Council’s Executive Member for Communities, said: “As the executive lead for community safety I am delighted that here in Leeds we are proactively supporting the ‘16 Days of Action’ against domestic violence and abuse campaign with the help of Leeds United Football Club.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of stalking and coercive controlling behaviour as we need more people to understand and recognise that domestic abuse isn’t just about physical violence; coercive control has featured in a high number of domestic homicide reviews where the victims have never knowingly experienced any form of physical violence.
“During the campaign we will be hosting a conference in partnership with Leeds Safeguarding Adults Board which will bring together practitioners to raise awareness of how we can improve support to victims, including those with additional care and support needs. Ultimately, it is through engaging with campaigns such as this that we will hopefully encourage more people to come forward and report it.”
Lynne Chambers, Interim Head of Service Children and Adult Safeguarding, added: “Leeds Community Healthcare work with Safer Leeds to support the embedding of the Domestic Violence and Abuse Strategy UK. We are working with all of our partners towards ending violence for women and girls but also acknowledging that in some cases men are also subject to abuse.
“We are privileged to be supporting the Leeds Safeguarding Adults Board and Safer Leeds coercive control conference in December. One of our members of staff will be sharing a personal family tragic event born from domestic violence and abuse with a view to raising awareness of coercive control to conference attendees and our local community.”
To learn more about the White Ribbon campaign, please click here.
