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White Ribbon Day has been marked on 25 November since 1991 to engage men in the prevention of gender-based violence. At the time, there was very little work being done to engage men in this issue; violence against women and girls was framed as a women’s issue.

In 2000, the United Nations designated White Ribbon Day as International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and the occasion continues to call attention to the importance of active allyship from men to end violence against women and girls, once and for all.

Every year, White Ribbon UK works around a theme to raise awareness. For 2025 the theme is ‘We Speak Up for Change’. Sexist jokes, catcalling, staring, and comments might seem harmless to some, but they are serious because they can lead to violence and abuse. The call to action therefore is ‘to speak up and create a world where women and girls are safe, equal, and respected’.

At Women in Football, one of our key strategic pillars is to improve women’s representation at all levels of the game by celebrating women’s success, challenging discrimination and advocating for change, part of which is encouraging men to become allies.

The WIF 2025 annual industry workforce survey demonstrated that there is much work still to do in tackling discriminatory behaviour and instilling confidence in reporting discriminatory behaviour and abuse. The findings included:

• 78% of female respondents stated that they had experienced discrimination in the workplace based on their gender 
• 63.5% of women had experienced sexist banter/jokes
• Over 56% of women working in football said no action was taken after reporting gender-based discrimination in the workplace

Underlining the importance of campaigns such as White Ribbon Day, WIF CEO Yvonne Harrison said: “In 2023, violence against women and girls (VAWG) was recognised as a national threat alongside terrorism and serious organised crime.  

“White Ribbon Day serves as an important reminder that this remains a problem affecting many, and that men have an active role to play in ending this. The call for allyship is core to our work as an organisation and we recognise the potential of using football for good’.

Paul Barber OBE is Brighton & Hove Albion’s chief executive and deputy chairperson, sits on WIF’s board of directors and is a wonderful ally to women working in the game. In January this year, Paul also took on the role of non-executive chair at Football Beyond Borders (FBB). Working in secondary schools across London, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and the West Midlands, FBB directly supports 3,000 young people, and many more through equipping school staff with the tools to build trusting relationships with vulnerable young people.

 

 

In July 2025, FBB launched the Lost Boys Taskforce, a cross-sector coalition of leaders from football, education, youth work, policy, and business, united by a bold and urgent ambition: to make the UK a country where every young person has access to a trusted adult.

Highlighting the growing issues that were also a focal point of Netflix’s award-winning Adolescence series (which asks what is happening to our young men these days, and what pressures they face from their peers, from the internet, and from social media), Paul explained to The Athletic that the separation of his parents at the age of 13 meant “I went from being a kid in the top quarter of the class to not turning up for lessons, playing truant, getting into scraps, and losing my sense of direction and purpose. That was partly because my dad left home and I didn’t have that real male role model in my life anymore.

“I shut myself off from pretty much everyone and everything. It was such a short period from being a kid who was well balanced and engaged in every sport to being completely disengaged from everything and everyone.”

As a Premier League club, Paul also explained the social responsibility that Brighton bear as employers.

“We bring in outside organisations to help educate players, for example, on how to conduct themselves in a situation in a nightclub where there’s an attractive girl that they are talking to; how do you conduct yourself, what’s appropriate, what’s not appropriate? The trouble is, unless you’ve been told or educated by your parents or an elder sibling, then you don’t know what you don’t know.

“For a long time, there has been this assumption that every young person who goes out into the adult world knows how to behave. It’s a naive assumption, because there are a lot of things you have to learn about being an adult. We have to bridge the gap. We need to help young men and women develop as humans and provide them with life skills. We definitely haven’t got all the answers. We haven’t got everything right. But we understand we’ve got a role to play.”

If you are a male member of the football workforce looking to expand your professional network, join us by becoming an ally and WIF member.

Learn more about the Lost Boys Taskforce

Learn more about White Ribbon Day

Photos: Kate Tencza and Football Beyond Borders

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