MEN including the Chief Minister, the founder of Wednesday Night FC, and a Royal Yacht bouncer have made a pledge to end domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.
A King Street window display organised by domestic abuse charity Freeda marks White Ribbon Day on 25 November, which encourages men to oppose gendered violence.
The men featured in the campaign come from a variety of backgrounds: Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham is one of them, along with Victoria College head teacher Gareth Hughes, Ernst & Young assistant manager Rishan Shafi, Royal Yacht doorman Tony Virissimo, Krafty J’s owner John O’Connell, and Wednesday Night FC director of football Adam Grocott.
The pictures feature each of the men holding up a sign, and are accompanied by a statement promoting “honesty and truth” over “control and power” and how “every individual deserves a relationship free from fear”.
In his statement, Mr Virissimo said: “Real men don’t stand by, they stand up.”
Judy Griffin, Freeda’s business manager, explained that it was important to represent members of the Island’s Portuguese community as well as hospitality and finance.
The campaign aims to encourage men from different walks of life to realise the impact they can have.
“It’s not just one area of the Island community,” Ms Griffin said.
“We want people to walk past and say: ‘I know him!’
“We didn’t want it to be all politicians; we wanted a broad spectrum of the demographics of the Island.”
She added that it had been “encouraging” to see that the men she approached about the idea were “really keen” to take part. This, she explained, fitted into the charity’s broader strategy, since rebranding from Jersey Women’s Refuge, of focusing on preventing domestic abuse.
After make-up and perfume chain Sephora closed its Jersey branches, the King Street building stood empty. Though it has a new owner, photographer Max Young has been offering the windows to charities to display their work or promote their projects.
When Ms Griffin approached him, she said, he offered to give them the space for free – as long as he could take the pictures.
