The ‘Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls’ conference only saw one man present at the conference for the first three hours, Councillor Ibby Ullah.

Cllr Ullah signified the importance of the growing violence against women which is the aim of the campaign.

Sheffield Town Hall housed the conference today in light of White Ribbon Day, an annually recognised day that attempts to raise awareness of men’s violence against women.

Cllr Ullah raised significant issues in his speech, stating “Men should do more to speak up and we as men have a very important role in this.”

White Ribbon Day is a day a part of the global ’16 Days of Activism’ Campaign that urges the recognition of violence endured by women.

They emphasise the statistic that 1 in 4 women will be a victim to sexual assault or attempted assault in their lifetimes.

In light of this, the White Ribbon Campaign has this year partnered with 16 men from different backgrounds who have become ambassadors to bring awareness to the rising level of violence against women and children.

Given this, the lack of male cooperation in the conference comes as a shock to this year’s attendees.

Pam Daniel, a coaching mentor and attendee of the conference, stated “more men need to be here and hear what we saw today”.

Cllr Ullah highlighted in his speech that 63% of men have admitted that they are not doing enough to keep women safe. He added: “many boys and young men are learning about masculinity from the wrong role models”.

This marks the lack of education that is available for young men and the danger of toxic masculine ideals being infiltrated into vulnerable minds.

Politician, Jessica Rose Phillips, also attended the conference. Mrs Phillips also emphasised: “The Government has to focus on what gets taught universally”.

Although Mrs Phillips signed a law that made it a legal obligation for schools to report cases of domestic abuse, she believes that this is not enough.