Sir Puka encourages white ribbon campaign

DEPUTY Prime Minister Sir Puka Temu wants to see more men and boys in Papua New Guinea becoming white ribbon ambassadors to promote the campaign for the awareness to reduce violence against women.
Being a white ribbon ambassador himself, Sir Puka was the keynote speaker at the Coalition for Change (CFC) launching of the white ribbon campaign for White Ribbon Day and International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women at a hotel in Port Moresby last Saturday.
“For us here in PNG, we must use the occasion to also remember the many silent sufferers in our country and men  must join in the fight and vow to bring an end to this, the most pervasive and shameful of all human rights violations,” he said.
The white ribbon was a personal pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women and the campaign remains the largest effort by men across the world, working in partnership with women to end men’s violence against women.
Sir Puka added that white ribbons were worn by men who were encouraging all men to speak out against violence towards women and by women who were supporting men through this global campaign.
In his speech at the breakfast meeting, he said the campaign began in Canada which saw men for the first time wore white ribbons on the occasion of the second anniversary of the killing of 14 women by a lone gunman in December, 1989 in Montreal.
This historic and heroic initiative was to see an end to violence against women by men which also saw 100,000 white ribbons being worn across Canada.
“Having seen so much pain of victims of violence, I must add that men too, were sufferers but not to the same degree and extent as women”.
Sir Puka was also the Asia-Pacific region chairman of the Asia-Pacific male parliamentarians standing committee on the prevention of violence against women and girls.