The White Ribbon campaign, launched in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, has received strong support from prominent artists, academicians and activists.

Among the first to sign up were International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War president Dr Ronald McCoy, artist Wong Hoy Cheong, actors Mano Maniam and David Gomez, comedian Indy Nadarajah, artistes Reefa and Ferhad, and former F1 driver Alex Yoong.

The campaign is jointly organised by All Women's Action Society of Malaysia (Awam) and Men's Action Network Against Violence (MAN V), who said men have been silent for too long in efforts to curb violence against women.

Said Awam president Mary Cardosa: "For 15 years, we worked mainly with women, towards our vision of creating a society where men and women are treated with respect as equal human beings, free from all forms of violence.

"We lobbied for legal reform, provided services for women in crisis, raised public awareness, and worked to empower women. However, the root cause - patriarchy and the subordinate position of women - have not changed, and because of this, violence continues."

MAN V, she said, was created out of the realisation that Awam needed to create new and creative ways to bringing an end to violence against women.

"The men have come in full energy and commitment to play their role in ending violence...embracing the campaign with as much passion and dedication as any of the women in Awam," she added.

Men speak out

The White Ribbon campaign was started in 1991 by a group of men in Canada, to commemorate the 1989 Montreal Massacre, which saw 14 women students of the cole Polytechnique killed on Dec 6. Thirteen others were wounded.

All students of the engineering faculty, they had been singled out by Marc Lepine, 25, who walked into the engineering faculty and gunned them down before committing suicide.

It was then discovered that Lpine's application to enter the polytechnic had been rejected.

In a suicide note found on his body, he placed the blame on the country's affirmative action policies for women.

Attached to the note was a list of 19 prominent Qubec women in non-traditional occupations, including the province's first woman firefighter and police captain.

He wrote: "(The women on the list) nearly died today. The lack of time (because I started too late) has allowed these radical feminists to survive."

The White Ribbon Campaign was mooted as a way to acknowledge male responsibility in a sexist society.

The Canadian group set aside Dec 6 as a day for men to collectively speak out against all forms of violence against women.

Wearing a white ribbon has now become a global statement of men's opposition to violence against women. To date, 31 countries have adopted the campaign, with Malaysia being the latest to do so.