MPs Unite in Support of White Ribbon Day

On November 25, White Ribbon Day and the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the White Ribbon Campaign arrived in Parliament to photograph MPs wearing white ribbons. Wearing a white ribbon is a pledge never to commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women.

We began the day with the Conservative party, taking a group photo as well as individual photos of each MP.

Theresa May, a strong supporter of the White Ribbon Campaign, issued this statement:

I strongly support White Ribbon Day and the White Ribbon campaign. Domestic violence is a horrific crime that far too many women suffer from. We need to do more to prevent domestic violence by ensuring that all of us – government, police, schools, the NHS, and voluntary sector organisations – work together to tackle the root causes of violence and to give support to the vital services that help victims. This will be an important occasion in which we can all join together to speak out against domestic violence.

We also photographed Liberal Democrat MPs throughout the day, all wearing a white ribbon.

Liberal Democrat MPs on College Green.

White Ribbon Director Chris Green and Advocacy & Policy Officer Kaitlin Bardswich with Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Willott.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson stopped by as well (see previous post), as did Ikram Butt, White Ribbon ambassador and the first Asian to play rugby for England.

Ikram Butt with Labour MPs Neil Turner (R) and Ian McCartney.

The Labour Party was very supportive of the White Ribbon Campaign, gathering for a large group photo as well as individual photos. 

All in all, we photographed 77 MPs from the Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat parties. This was almost twice the number of MPs photographed last year - let's aim to double this number again next year!