The Mayor of London has been praised for launching the #HaveAWord campaign which targets men to call out misogyny when they see it.
The #HaveAWord campaign was released on 14th March, a week after International Women’s Day, to address toxic male behaviour towards women.
The campaign’s message is to ‘have a word with yourself, then with your mates’ as a way of encouraging men to confront violent behaviour instead of acting as a bystander.
Women’s Aid’s Head of Public Affairs and Partnership, Rebecca Goshawk, said: “We welcome the mayor’s campaign which rightly focuses on the behaviours that men and boys can change to tackle the endemic of male violence against women and girls (VAWG) in London.
“We look forward to the publication of the mayor’s next strategy for tackling VAWG.
“A whole school approach to working with children and young people on recognising health and unhealthy relationships, behaviours and gender dynamics must be invested in.”
Women’s Aid praised Khan on Twitter for the campaign and quoted it was a ‘powerful’ campaign.
Khan has called on men to think of their actions by pairing up with football and rugby stadiums in London to spread the message.
Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Arsenal, West Ham are among some of the football stadiums who have supported the campaign across the capital.
Brentford have supported the campaign by installing its message on mirrors in the men’s bathrooms in Brentford Community Stadium.
They have also featured an open letter from the mayor in their match day programme.
The video portrays a young woman approached by a group of boys whom she wishes not to engage with, whilst waiting for a taxi at night.
One boy in particular persistently aims to engage in conversation with the girl even though it’s clear she is not wanting to talk.
The boy continues to harass the girl in the street making a number of comments about her appearance even though she is reluctant to speak to him.
Of all the boys in the background witnessing his behaviour, the video shows one of the boys call out on the behaviour finally.
The director of the short film wrote to Instagram when it was first released.
She quoted: “As a young woman, I bring my own experiences to this film and hope that it resonates with others who have been in similar situations.
“It should not be left up to women anymore, systemic change needs to be made.
“Men – don’t normalise or excuse this behaviour, if you see it happening.”
