Good Work And Pointless Bureaucracy: The Demise Of White Ribbon Australia

As a White Ribbon ambassador of nearly five years, I find it hard to disagree with most of what Clementine Ford had to say this week about the Australian organisation's demise. Domestic violence is at a crisis level in our country, and men slapping on a ribbon once a year and organising networking events does little to change our culture. A recent analysis of White Ribbon Australia’s activities raised even further questions. Of the White Ribbon Day events held annually around the country, more than half of them were found to be largely organised by women. This, on the ONE day of the year where men are asked to speak up against cultures of male violence against women. The White Ribbon Australia model was problematic in some areas, and completely broken in others.

(Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, White Ribbon Ambassador)

As the organisation entered voluntary administration this week, I was staggered to learn that nearly 30 full-time staff would lose their jobs. How does an organisation that relies solely on the work of volunteers amass such a bloated assortment of middle management and HR employees? Who were these people? I certainly never heard from them. There would be the occasional generalised email to ambassadors or requests for some vague feedback, but that was pretty much it. In my five years as an ambassador, I never received a single phone call from the organisation. No personal contact whatsoever. I could have been doing anything – or nothing, as it happens – and the (remarkably plentiful amount of) paid White Ribbon staff would have had absolutely no idea. This seems particularly egregious, when we consider how chronically underfunded so many front-line domestic violence services are. It’s difficult at this stage to reconcile my association with an organisation which amassed more than $6 million in funding annually, while crucial services which literally play a life-or-death role in the lives of so many women were left floundering.

There’s a much longer, angrier rant in here somewhere, but I’ll leave that for Ford and others who already have those bases covered.

What frustrates me more than anything, though, is that beyond the bloated bureaucracy, dubious finances and inept management of White Ribbon Australia, there are a sizable number of men who are deeply passionate about the cause... And they have poured thousands of unpaid hours into trying to change our culture for the better. Yes, there have been ambassadors who chucked on a ribbon and waited for accolades. But for every one of them, I could name countless local leaders who have taken entire organisations, religious centres and community groups on a journey of cultural and attitudinal change. I've seen men come alongside other men, volunteering hundreds of hours just in the hope that they could start a conversation in their local community. I've seen this work have a real impact, and witnessed men examining and challenging their own values - becoming true leaders in their community through the process.

(Inderjit, Ramzi and Alex at Manningham Council's White Ribbon Day event, 2014)

I don’t think it’s alarmist to say that our masculine culture is in crisis. The current male suicide and self-harm rates in Australia tell a story of a masculinity which is in desperate need of change. The ‘Man Box’ has historically constricted us into such a narrowly defined space of acceptable male existence that we would often rather take our own lives than reach out for help. That’s not emotional rhetoric. The statistics speak for themselves. We desperately need to embrace a broader, more emotionally complex view of what it means to be a man, and this work is intrinsically linked to our attitudes towards women and Australia’s domestic violence statistics - which men are collectively responsible for. This work is urgent and crucial. Lives are depending on it.

While I was processing my frustrations earlier this week and reading Clementine’s piece, I went through a range of angers. My first was for the domestic violence services who could have done incredible things with the money that White Ribbon pissed up against the wall. Intrinsic to this was the women who may have been denied services or accommodation through this lack of funding. There were several other phases too, but where my thoughts settled was with the men who care deeply about this issue – either through personal experience or just because they’re decent humans with a conscience – and how much time they have given under the banner of an organisation which has been so grossly mismanaged.

My anger being raw, I messaged Clementine about this, and she said “while it's encouraging to see (men taking leadership) and I hope it continues, it's also frustrating to know that this activism and work could have been done in conjunction with organisations that have been working in this space effectively for years and with very little funding.” And that’s pretty much it, hey? There is so much knowledge that already exists in the space of violence prevention and gender equity, and it’s impossible to justify the bloated, bureaucratic juggernaut that White Ribbon Australia had become. 

(Clemetine Ford's piece on the demise of White Ribbon Australia, as posted on 10 Daily)

If White Ribbon Australia achieved nothing else, it represented a banner under which like minded men could come together and attempt to drive cultural change. While I’m not terribly sad to see the organisation go under – especially with how it had been conducting it's business – its demise leaves a hole for collective male activism which could be so much more potent than it has been. I can only hope this week’s news represents the birth of something new and far more effective, and that moving forward, the men among us who are committed to creating a more positive masculine culture can better organise ourselves and our collective resources.

I’ve got several events coming up during the International Day of Prevention of Violence Against Women, and I’ll be going ahead with them. I have my speeches planned, my PowerPoint slides organised, and my calls to action ready. This makes me question what calling myself a ‘White Ribbon ambassador’ ever achieved in the first place, but it also gives me hope that something more positive, grass-roots and clear eyed will emerge. I’m hoping this represents an opportunity for us men to come together and create something far more powerful than we’ve ever had before. If we're serious about action, I don't think it's a choice. I hope we can seize it with everything we have.