• White Ribbon Advocates promote gender equality, respectful relationships, and the prevention of men’s violence against women
• Charles Sturt University aims to become a White Ribbon Accredited Workplace
• A Charles Sturt senior executive works with staff and students to ensure a safe and respectful culture across the University

Charles Sturt University (Charles Sturt) is proud to announce a member of the University’s senior executive has been accepted to the White Ribbon Advocates Program.

Charles Sturt University Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students) Ms Jenny Roberts (pictured) has been endorsed and welcomed to the White Ribbon Advocates Program, reinforcing the University’s commitment to champion gender equity and end violence against women.

White Ribbon Advocates are official community representatives of White Ribbon Australia.

They promote gender equality, respectful relationships, and the engagement of men in preventing men’s violence against women.

Ms Roberts is currently Chair of the Charles Sturt University Equity and Diversity committee, and the responsibility for student safety sits within her portfolio.

Ms Roberts said, “I am pleased to now be a White Ribbon Advocate, given this is such an important issue.

“My role as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students) requires that I actively work with staff and students to ensure a safe and respectful culture across the University, and I see that the advocate role is a natural extension of this.”

White Ribbon Australia describes White Ribbon Advocates as committed, knowledgeable and active women who recognise the importance of men taking responsibility and being part of the solution to end the violence, abuse and inequality faced by women across Australia.

Their primary role is to engage men to take responsibility for promoting respectful relationships between men and women, and ending men’s violence against women.

The Advocate Program provides the latest information, tools and development activities to further advocates’ understanding of the gendered drivers of violence, and equips them to positively engage men in addressing behavioural and attitudinal norms that contribute to men’s violence against women.

Mr Nicholas Steepe, project manager (Equity and Diversity) in the Charles Sturt Division of Human Resources, said the admission of the University to the White Ribbon Advocates Program demonstrates the University’s ongoing commitment to gender equity.

“Deputy Vice-Chancellor Jenny Roberts is the perfect person for this role due to her longstanding commitment and achievements in the gender equity space and her extensive experience as Chair of the University’s Equity and Diversity Committee,” Mr Steepe said.

He noted that having a member of the Vice-Chancellor’s Leadership Team registered as a White Ribbon Advocate is a key element in the Charles Sturt Workplace Gender Equity Strategy 2018-2022 released last year.

Mr Steepe said other related achievements of Charles Sturt include:

• Charles Sturt is a Workplace Gender Equality Agency Employer of Choice and was awarded the Athena SWAN Bronze Institutional Award
• Introduction of 15 days of domestic violence leave in the most recent Enterprise Agreement, which is higher than the national average
• The introduction of two-hour domestic violence awareness sessions provided to staff and students by Lifeline.