Portsmouth FC and Southampton join forces to urge males to end violence and sexist behaviour to women

Portsmouth FC has joined forces with bitter rivals Southampton, Hampshire Cricket’s Hampshire Hawks and Southern Vipers, and police and crime commissioner Donna Jones. The partners are urging males to call out harassing, sexist and violent behaviour towards women and girls for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (White Ribbon Day) today.

The players have come together to take a stand and make the pledge to ‘never use, excuse or stay silent about violence and abuse towards women and girls’. Pompey and Saints want men and boys to take responsibility for their actions and challenge others on inappropriate behaviour when they see it – with Fratton Park boss Danny Cowley issuing a message.

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Ms Jones said: ‘White Ribbon’s mission is to prevent violence against women and girls by addressing its root causes, by changing long established and harmful attitudes that often result in men’s violence against women. White Ribbon Day celebrates the many men, and women, willing to show leadership and commitment to promoting safe, healthy relationships with families and encourages men to challenge each other’s attitudes and behaviours.

‘The VAWG agenda needed a local cross system approach and coordinated response, together with a strong commitment from leaders across the two counties. The breadth of agencies involved means it has been one of the first of its kind in the country. The purpose of the multi-agency VAWG Task Group is to ensure the needs of women and girls are kept at the heart of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight’s strategic response.’

David Mann, Hampshire Cricket and The Ageas Bowl CEO, said: ‘We are pleased to support the White Ribbon Day campaign again. We take pride in making a meaningful difference and hope our continued support of this key initiative will help encourage wider adoption of the promise to end violence against women.’

The support from clubs comes a year after the commissioner pioneered a Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Task Group which comprises of police, the CPS, the probation service, judges and magistrates from across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight as well as local authorities, health, and partners all working together to tackle VAWG.

Today, to mark International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women (IDEVAW) the commissioner hosted an event at St Mary’s Stadium with VAWG Task Group members to reflect on the work they have achieved over the last 12 months. At the event, a resolution was passed where members agreed to continue their efforts into the future.

Hampton Trust, the commissioned service for domestic abuse in Hampshire, runs an abuse prevention programme. In the last 12 months, Hampton Trust received 610 referrals to the programme, 88 per cent of which were men.

CEO Chantal Hughes said: ‘In the UK, millions of violence, abuse and harassment crimes against women and girls are recorded each year. Domestic abuse constitutes 15 per cent of police-recorded crime with 1.6 million estimated female victims in the year ending March 2020. These figures do not accurately represent the enormity of the problem as significantly more offences never come to the attention of any service, remaining unreported and under the radar.’