Women Deserve to Sleep Safe
The women of Project 5-O and Queen Victoria Women’s Centre (QVWC) are joining together to say all women deserve to sleep safe.
On 21 November 2007, the Melbourne community is invited to show their support for the campaign to end violence against women. The SleepSafe Breakfast supports White Ribbon Day - the international campaign to eliminate violence against women by promoting culture-change around the issue – and is part of the International 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign.
The SleepSafe Breakfast aims to raise public awareness of the prevalence and impact of domestic violence within the community and to see an end to violence against women and children, allowing all a safe night's sleep.
ABC journalist and UNIFEM representative Helen Brown will MC the event at the Park Hyatt, Melbourne. Guests are encouraged to donate a pair of women’s or children’s pyjamas which will be given to local women’s refuges to help those who cannot sleep safely at home know they are cared for and have a more comfortable night’s sleep.
White Ribbon Day Ambassador and AFL Players’ Association CEO Brendon Gale will speak.
SleepSafe Breakfast Committee Chairwoman Jane Treleaven, said, ‘All women deserve the right to feel safe in their own homes, to enjoy a good night’s sleep free from the threat of violence. UNIFEM has supported White Ribbon Day in Australia since 2003 and each year events like the SleepSafe Breakfast remind the community that domestic violence is, sadly, still part of our society and we must work together to end it’.
SleepSafe Breakfast Keynote Speaker Brendon Gale said, ‘We know that to end violence against women, men and women have to stand together to say ‘no’. It’s tragic that some women live in fear because of the actions of men in their lives. White Ribbon Day reminds us that violence against women is still a real problem in our communities, but it’s also a chance to say we won’t stand for it any more.’
The SleepSafe Breakfast is organised by Project 5-O, a coalition of BPW Australia, Soroptimist International, Zonta International, National Council of Women, Federation of University Women Australia, with the support of QVWC.
Spaces are limited. Reserve your place today by registering online at Business and Professional Women (click on 'Events').
White Ribbons will also be available for purchase at $2.00/ribbon.
Statistics on violence against women
o Almost 60% of Australian women suffer abuse, sexual harassment or violence by men.
o Family violence is the leading contributor to death, disability and illness in Victorian women aged 15 - 44, being responsible for more of the disease burden than many well-known risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking and obesity. (VicHealth 2004)
o The annual cost of domestic violence to the business/corporate sector was estimated at $1.5 billion with an approximate cost of an individual case of domestic violence being estimated at almost $10,000. (Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearing House, 2002)
o The estimated cost of family violence in Australia in 2002- 03 was $8.1 billion. (Access Economics 2004)
o The 2005 VicHealth and DHS Personal Safety Survey, found one in three women had experienced physical violence since the age of 15.
About White Ribbon Day
White Ribbon Day was created by a handful of Canadian men in 1991 on the second anniversary of one man's massacre of fourteen women in Montreal. They began the White Ribbon Campaign to urge men to speak out against violence against women.
In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly declared November 25 the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW) and the White Ribbon has become the symbol for the day.
From 2000, the Commonwealth Government Office for Women ran awareness activities on the International Day, and, in 2003, the Australian branch of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM, began a partnership with men and men's organisations to make this a national campaign. Ten thousand white ribbons were distributed in 2003.
Today hundreds of thousands of white ribbons are worn by men and women across Australia - men at work; men and women in all Australian police forces; men in national and local sporting matches and organisations; men in the media; men and women in politics; men in the defence forces; men and women in capital cities and in rural and regional Australia.
Media Inquiries, email: sleepsafe@gmail.com