White Ribbon Walk

The following entry was written by Year 9 students, Rachel Turtledove and Ella Springer. Together with 15 of their peers they participated in the White Ribbon Walk. In their reflections below they apply Jewish principles and values we learned in class this term regarding עריבות-Being responsible for one another.

Rabbi Daniel Siegel

Ella Springer

Rachel Turtledove

White Ribbon is an organisation that aims to raise awareness of and stop domestic violence and abuse against women. The White Ribbon movement came to Australia over a decade ago, and White Ribbon Australia has grown massively since then.

On 25 November, White Ribbon Day, there were events all over Australia for people to get involved in. The extremely important issue of violence against women is not spoken about often enough, which is why it is even more important for everyone to be involved in ensuring that the numbers of women who are victims of domestic violence and abuse decreases in any way possible. Our way was to participate in the White Ribbon Walk, along with a number of other students from Years 9 and 11.

The walk was organised by Randwick City Council and started at High Cross Park in Randwick and ended up at Coogee Beach. It was a protest to help raise awareness of domestic violence and money for victims, relating to the Jewish value of כל האפשר למחות – whoever can protest the wrongdoings of another is required to do so. From our participation in the White Ribbon Walk, we learned כל היכול להציל, that we must save people in any circumstance of victimisation, when we can. It was quite surreal to be walking with so many other people, men, women and children, who were all marching in white to show their support.

We arrived at Coogee Beach where there was a barbeque and refreshments, and Adam Goodes, Councillors, police members and officials spoke about the issue. Through our participation in the walk, we were already helping to stop domestic violence and abuse against women.

It was an eye-opening, fulfilling event that we were all very proud to be a part of, and overall a great experience for everyone who wanted to be an איש, an upstander, instead of being a silent partner, שתיקה כהודאה. Thank you to Mr Whitcombe and Sophie Lew in Year 11 for presenting us with the opportunity to be involved in the walk.

By Rachel Turtledove and Ella Springer