White Ribbon NZ's new toolbox for fathers, to support them developing their son’s respectful sexual behaviour

White Ribbon New Zealand has new toolboxes for fathers - to support them developing their son’s respectful sexual behaviour. These toolboxes, one for young fathers and another for older dads, are available on ­ https://whiteribbon.org.nz/toolbox/

On the same webpage there are short videos of several White Ribbon ambassadors discussing the top five tips for dads.

Supporting fathers is a new approach for White Ribbon. When they were testing last year’s messages it emerged that fathers were very uncomfortable about talking to their sons about sexual consent. Further research with a much larger group of men identified that:

  • Fathers are twice as likely to talk to their sons about finding a job than about the importance of consent in sexual relationships.
  • Nearly half of fathers never discuss this with their sons. 
  • When fathers have daughters, they’re more likely to regularly discuss sexual consent and what’s OK with them.

This is a missed opportunity for violence prevention and White Ribbon’s toolboxes encourage fathers to take a lead with their sons. It also supports them to be actively involvement in raising their kids.