Fife Council has reaffirmed its support to the White Ribbon campaign to call on men to take a stand against sexism and gender-based violence.
Conservative councillor for Cowdenbeath Darren Watt said he was proud to wear his white ribbon to show support but that what was needed was 365 days of action, not just an awareness campaign.
“Fife is one of 15 local authorities where domestic abuse is above the Scottish average,” he told Fife councillors.
There continued to be a high number of recorded domestic abuse incidents reported across Fife and Scotland.
National figures were 58,810 in 2016/17 and 59,541 the following year.
In Fife there were 4,425 and 4,418 incidents in 2016/17 and 2017/18 respectively.
There was a female victim and male perpetrator in 81% of cases where the information of gender was recorded.
Mr Watt said that in Fife the shocking statistics boiled down to the fact that every two hours in Fife police would record an incident of domestic abuse.
“It cannot be allowed to continue,” he told the meeting and asked for the local authority to continue to support the work of White Ribbon Scotland and Fife Violence Against Women Partnership.
Mr Watt also called for upgrades to the council’s website Fife Direct to make it easier to seek advice and for extra training for senior officers, councillors and frontline staff to help them be able to recognise those at risk
He further asked for Fife Council to work more closely with local partners and agencies to raise further awareness and take action against gender-based violence.
The council agreed to his request to call for more public awareness campaigns throughout the year with support from partner organisations including White Ribbon Scotland, Police Scotland and Fife Women’s Aid.
This would include social media, but not be limited to it.
And it was agreed to encourage and support men to promote themselves as positive role models who would stand up and challenge sexism and violence against women.
SNP councillor John Beare highlighted the fact Fife Council had long supported the White Ribbon campaign.
