White Ribbon Day

The International Day Against Violence Against Women, 25 November 2010, marked the beginning of 16 days of action across Greater Manchester to raise the awareness of violence against women, and the work towards its eradication. Salford City Council’s community safety unit along with it's partners organised a forum at Helmsley House, the Crescent, Salford, M5 4PE. The day started with the Happystorm theatre performing a segment from 'Be rain on me', a play directed by Suzi Wrenshaw. This powerful play set in Salford, depicts a man's struggle with his wife suffering from mental health issues. But as the play unfolds, things are not what they seem and a chill begins to creep up the spine.

Dawn Redshaw, chief officer from Salford Women's Aid supported survivors as they told about their experiences. She also spoke of the 'Positive You' course that Salford Women's Aid run at the Salford Women's Centre on Langley road. The course aims to help victims rebuild their lives after the abuse they have suffered. The women also demonstrated support in the Clothesline project which is held across the world, where women and their children have an opportunity to design T-shirts about how they felt about what has happened to them.

This was followed by speakers:

• Paul Hilton, programme manager Greater Manchester Probation, talked about the pilot of their 12 week voluntary perpetrator programme for domestic abusers. 
• Kay Davidson, deputy manager of Salford Youth Offending Service, talked about the work of the team in working with young people who are violent towards their siblings and their mother.

This page was last updated on 20 December 2010