White Ribbon Day Conference – 2011

On the 25th November a special conference took place at the Dugdale Centre to highlight domestic violence and help raise awareness of the prevalence of this issue in society.
 
With guest speakers from a number of organisations set up to help women who find themselves in this frightening situation the day saw a 20 sq metre logo of the White Ribbon and an anti violence message beamed on the side of the Civic Centre into the night. This was done by the same company famous for projecting an image of Gail Porter onto the Houses of Parliament.
 
The conference also highlighted areas of good practice, and looked at the future work which builds on the success of our partnership response. It examined how services link into Enfield Council’s multi agency coordinated approach which supports victims and holds perpetrators accountable for their actions.
 
Cllr Christine Hamilton, Cabinet Member for Community Safety said “Domestic violence is a shameful crime which happens to people from all sections of society regardless of your age, race or class. It is universal. 

“Enfield Council has been working hard with the police to make it easier for victims to report this to the authorities. Statistics suggest only 24 to 35% of those who suffer actually report the crime to the police for a variety of reasons including fearing not being believed, fear of retribution from their attacker or shame.
 
“The conference once again brings into the public eye this, often unseen, crime and lets people who are suffering in silence know there is something you can do about it and that the Council and police are tackling it head on.”