Medical Colleges and peak health bodies in Australia and New Zealand are uniting today – the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women – to support the White Ribbon campaign to end men’s violence against women.
Violence against women is a widespread issue in Australia and New Zealand. Although often unspoken, reported rates are high in both countries, with up to a third of women experiencing physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes.
As health and medical professionals, the members of our organisations see all too often the devastating effects of violence against women. On White Ribbon Day our members will be wearing white ribbons in their workplaces to demonstrate their support for the campaign to colleagues, patients and clients, and to indicate their willingness and availability to discuss this sensitive and difficult issue, should they be experiencing violence in their lives.
Co-signed by:
- Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers
- Australasian College for Emergency Medicine
- Australian College of Children and Young People’s Nurses
- Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine
- Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association
- Australian Medical Students’ Association
- Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association
- Australian Psychological Society
- College of Nurses Aotearoa (NZ)
- Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives
- Indigenous Allied Health Australia
- Music Therapy New Zealand
- New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists
- New Zealand College of Midwives
- New Zealand Medical Association
- New Zealand Orthoptic Society
- Osteopaths New Zealand
- Te ORA
- The Royal Australasian College of Physicians
- The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
- The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
- The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
For more information, or to arrange an interview call the APS Media team on 03 8662 3358 / 0435 896 444, or email. Find the APS Media team on Twitter: @AustPsych
The APS is the largest professional organisation for psychologists in Australia, representing more than 27,000 members. The APS is committed to advancing psychology as a discipline and profession. It spreads the message that psychologists make a difference to people’s lives, through improving psychological knowledge and community wellbeing.