On White Ribbon Day Newington boys once again joined the walk at Randwick to make a pledge and take a stand against Violence Against Women. Marching with several hundred men and women from other schools and community groups, our Black and White brigade made sure that fighting gender inequality and domestic violence was not something to be taken lightly.

At assembly that day, Angus Powell (11/PR), Ben Serone (11/MA) and Ashutosh Bidkar (11/FL) introduced boys to a new Gender Equality group they had set up at the College. Following in the footsteps of this year’s Senior Prefects, who also spoke strongly and passionately against Violence against Women, ANZ’s Head of Diversity Fiona Krautil was invited to speak to the boys about gender inequality.

Ms Krautil did not sugarcoat the reality of gender inequality in Australian society drawing on statistics about the absence of women in high profile positions at reputable organisations from universities and government to banks and big corporations. 

“Sexism is woven into the fabric of everyday life,” she said.

“Most [male] CEOs don’t realise there is any gender inequality until their daughters enter the workplace.”

At the moment Ms Krautil is working CEOs and senior executive members to train them on the invisible bias towards men and guiding them in how to stop this and become champions of change. 

Speaking up about gender inequality does not only mean we are standing up for our sisters, partners, mothers and daughters, but it also frees up traditional and rigid definitions of what it means to be a man.

“For mental health, we must embrace more diverse ways of being a man,” she added. 

She urged boys to speak the truth even if their voices shook. They could start with a small group of people and it could be about something like sexting, sexist jokes and using derogatory language.

“Women have been working hard on this for many years, but the research says that this is about both men and women standing up.”