In doing so, they will help raise awareness of Wolverhampton’s continuing drive to end domestic abuse, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, so called ‘honour based’ violence, sexual violence and stalking and harassment.
At the same time, they will be highlighting the help and support that is available to victims from local and national organisations such as The Haven, Wolverhampton Domestic Violence Forum, St George's Hub, Karma Nirvana and the City of Wolverhampton Council.
The Orange Wolverhampton campaign is held annually between 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and 10 December, UN Human Rights Day, and supports the United Nations’ Orange the World campaign to end violence against women and girls.
The Safer Wolverhampton Partnership has chosen to use the term 'interpersonal violence' to clarify that these crimes will be robustly tackled regardless of the sex of the victim, though the campaign recognises that the majority of victims are female.
This year’s campaign will involve a blend of online and in person events to maximise the number of people participating. Over 100 Wolverhampton organisations have taken part in the campaign in each of the last 3 years, holding wear orange days, turning their websites and social media channels orange, sharing key messages about the campaign with staff, customers and service users, lighting their buildings orange, flying orange flags and much more. Individuals also showed their support by wearing orange ribbons or orange ribbon pin badges throughout the 16 day campaign.
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said: "The Orange Wolverhampton campaign gets bigger and better each year, with thousands of people showing their support in one way or another – and it's great that so many people want to play their part and say ‘no’ to interpersonal violence and help raise awareness of the help and support available to people in Wolverhampton.
"Each year the campaign gains more momentum by building on activities and engagement from previous years. Last year’s campaign obviously took a very different form with all events taking place virtually because of the Covid restrictions in place at the time. But now in its seventh year, Orange Wolverhampton is back bigger and better than before with in person events including ribbon making groups, a flag raising ceremony on 25 November, awareness walks, city centre pop up shops and much more.”
The Orange Wolverhampton campaign is coordinated by Wolverhampton Safeguarding Together, the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership, Wolverhampton Domestic Violence Forum and the council.
Sally Roberts, Chair of Wolverhampton Safeguarding Together Executive group, said: "The colour orange symbolises a brighter future and a world free from gender based violence, and the Orange Wolverhampton campaign is an important part of our work to make sure victims know how to get the help and support they need. Please get involved and together let’s turn Wolverhampton Orange!”
For more information and to sign up to this year’s campaign, please visit the Orange Wolverhampton website at #OrangeWolves to find details of events and resources, and to add any events you are planning.
Anyone suffering from domestic violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, so called ‘honour based’ violence or sexual violence, or knows someone who is, should call the relevant helpline:
- The Haven Wolverhampton 24 hour helpline for women - 08000 194400
- Haven Counselling helpline - 08000 308 345 (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9am to 2pm)
- Haven online Live Chat (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)
- St George’s Hub support for male victims - 01902 421904
- Karma Nirvana helpline for victims of so called ‘honour based’ violence and forced marriage - 0800 5999 247
- Wolverhampton Adult Social Care - 01902 551199
- Wolverhampton Children's Social Care - 01902 555392
- West Midlands Forced Marriage and Honour Based Violence Helpline - 0800 953 9777
- National Domestic Violence helpline for women - 0808 2000 247
- National Domestic Violence helpline for men - 0808 8010327
- NSPCC Female Genital Mutilation helpline - 0800 028 3550
- In an emergency, always call police on 999
For more information about the work of Wolverhampton Safeguarding Together, please visit Wolverhampton Safeguarding Together.
