Men from around the city are opening up the conversations with each other to support the 16 Days of Activism and enable culture change.
The 16 Days of Activism starts at the end of November and is an annual campaign call to help tackle violence against women and girls.
Councillor Sue Dann, Lord Mayor of Plymouth and Councillor Chris Penberthy, Deputy Lord Mayor have been working on a powerful film with Plymouth Argyle and other influential male figures, to raise awareness about violence against women and girls and how men together can start to make a change.
The short film, recorded at Plymouth Argyle Football Club, features people who men and boys from around the city may view as their role model. The male volunteers discussed how they are trying to make a change, and what they are doing to encourage that change ranging from their behaviours and actions.
Councillor Sue Dann, Lord Mayor of Plymouth, said: “It is great to see men coming together from various communities and backgrounds discussing how they can help make the cultural change needed in men’s behaviour towards women and how to address inappropriate male behaviour.
“We are hoping that this film will be seen by the men and boys of our city and beyond, we can then start the difficult conversations that are needed to address toxic male culture, this will support the safety of the women and girls of our city.
“We have a long way to go and this is just the beginning, but it is excellent to see how men from around the city are getting involved in addressing the behaviour and attitudes that can lead to violence against women and girls.”
Deputy Lord Mayor Chris Penberthy, said: “Male behaviour sets a tone, it’s not just a tone about how we treat women, it’s a tone about how we treat other people. If we are not going to respect each other, then society becomes really difficult, and we end up with bad behaviour.
“We need to come together to discuss the importance of this issue but it doesn’t start there, to enable culture change, we need men and boys to be calling out and challenging the bad behaviour and banter that goes too far, it needs to be more than listening.
“We hope that men and boys will see this film and resonate with one of the male figures featured, and recognise what needs to be done in order to facilitate change.”
Another project being highlighted as part of the 16 Days is M.A.N. Culture, a network that has been set up to help challenge ‘lad culture’ and promote a positive culture among men. The network was set up as part of the Safer Streets 3 initiative and the network want to change the conversation with men about violence against women and girls (VAWG).
The network hope to build a growing ‘male ally ship network’ to provide the space to have honest conversations about masculinity and male violence, address cultural issues regarding equality and stand up to harmful behaviours that act as a barrier to everyone being safer in Plymouth. They regularly meet with men and boys to open a conversation about male culture and its impact.