Bankstown Public School and Bankstown Youth Development Service (BYDS) has just released their newest video project called We all Wear the White Ribbon.
It is the fourth song in their RESPECT project. Over the next two years, grade five and six boys from 16 different schools in the Bankstown area will create songs and other arts based products teaching males about respecting women.
The boys featured in the video are proud to represent their rich and diverse cultural backgrounds, from the Pacific Islands, Tonga, the Middle East and beyond - proving that domestic violence is an issue that affects all communities in Australia, whether Indigenous or non-Indigenous.
Assalamu alaikum, Youssef’s my name. To prevent violence is my aim. My heart beats hard when I think about. Domestic violence we can do without.
The project is part of BYDS initiative to tackle the epidemic of violence against women. The hip hop video is shedding light on the need for all Australians to respect women and understand gendered violence in our society.
The Bankstown school and BYDS are both incredibly proud of the result.
Director of BYDS, Tim Carroll says he hopes the message will reach many people and positively impact different communities around the country.
“We feel that there is no better way to get this message strongly across to boys from any cultural background,” Carroll says.
“We are located in each school for ten weeks, we teach the boys in an age appropriate way the reality of family violence in Australia and help them respond artistically to that,” he says.
Carroll believes that the arts in general, and hip hop in particular are mediums that young people strongly relate to.
“BYDS music facilitator Craig Taunton teaches the boys about respect and gender inequality as well as helping them develop amazing lyrics. It is the most powerful project that I have seen in my 25 years of community arts,” Carroll says.
Bankstown is one of NSW's most culturally diverse regions, with over 153 cultures being represented, including a high population of Pacific and South Sea Islanders.
