The Mothers’ Union is taking part in the 16 days against gender-based violence with its ‘No More 1 in 3’ campaign against domestic abuse and gender-based violence. The organisation has also begun a year round campaign called ‘RISE UP against domestic abuse’.
On Saturday, members took part in one minute’s silence to pray for all those affected by gender-based violence. They are asking members to wear purple ribbons throughout the 16 Days of Activism, from Saturday 25 November to 10 December.
The Chief Executive Officer of the MU, Bev Jullien, said, “This year, we are asking members to wear purple ribbons throughout the 16 Days of Activism, which we hope will spark conversation about our campaign and allow members to share MU’s stance on gender-based violence. Members may also leave white and purple ribbons with details of the campaign in churches, with their incumbent’s permission, and public places to raise awareness of the fact that, devastatingly, 1 in 3 women and girls will be affected by some form of violence throughout their lives. We thank you for the support you give to this campaign.”
You can find resources available here.
Their new, year-round campaign, launched this week, is RISE UP which stands for Respond, Inform, Support, Empower, Unite and Pray.
Bev continues, “The RISE UP campaign is designed to equip our Mothers’ Union members and their parishes with the tools to respond to disclosures of domestic abuse with care and empathy. We are making it very clear however, that this does not mean that our members are now all domestic abuse professionals. Rather, the aim is for them to be confident in knowing how to respond, by working with their county domestic abuse organisations and signposting victims appropriately. We have also made clear to our members that a disclosure of abuse is not necessarily an issue to refer to their diocesan safeguarding team, unless they witness an act of abuse within their church or at a church function. If this was the case, they would report the incident to their church safeguarding link in line with the Church of England safeguarding policy.
“Our hope is that, over time, awareness of the issue will be increased at parish level, and members and fellow parishioners will feel confident to support survivors appropriately. The RISE UP campaign has Bronze, Silver and Gold levels. It is open to Mothers’ Union branches and also churches without a Mothers’ Union branch. ”
To achieve the Bronze award a branch or church should:
- Put a RISE UP poster raising awareness about domestic abuse in an appropriate public place such as in churches, toilets, community centres, village halls etc. Posters can be downloaded from mothersunion.org/RISEUP
- Commit to pray for those affected by domestic abuse, including the victims, survivors, perpetrators, and those who work in the field of domestic abuse.
- Make a connection with your local domestic abuse support organisation to see how you can support them. You could offer moving in and moving on packages.
You can find out what actions need to be completed to achieve the Silver and Gold awards here:
The RISE UP campaign is led by MU members, with the agreement and support of their incumbent, and each parish is working towards the level with which they feel most comfortable. The aim is to make annual awards to those attaining each level, to recognise progress made.
Find out more about the campaign and see the available resources by visiting: www.mothersunion.org/riseup
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