Saints Foundation, in partnership with Southampton Football Club, is bringing together organisations from across the city in a major push to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG). The campaign launches on White Ribbon Day—Tuesday, 25 November—amid stark new evidence that Southampton remains one of the UK’s most difficult places to grow up female. Many readers will have seen the white ribbons being worn by football pundits covering Premier League games on Sky and TNT sports in recent weeks.
Organisers say the work must go far beyond confronting physical violence; the campaign’s message is clear: abuse doesn’t begin with an assault, but with damaging words, attitudes and everyday disrespect. Across Southampton, thousands of women and girls experience sexism daily—through jokes, comments, and the steady drip of stereotypes that, left unchecked, can set the stage for something far worse.
A powerful new film, co-created with local charity Yellow Door, features a range of Southampton women and girls sharing their lived experiences and challenging the city to change. The short also includes appearances from Southampton FC’s first team players Elias Jelert, Gavin Bazunu, and Joe Aribo, lending their support and showing allyship from the men’s squad.
The film will be unveiled at a morning screening and panel event at St Mary’s Stadium, before Southampton FC faces Leicester City later that night in front of Sky Sports cameras. Campaigners stress the urgency: Plan International UK places Southampton in the ten per cent toughest places to be a girl nationwide. The city has the 7th highest rate of reported sexual offences in England and Wales. Domestic crime accounts for 15% of all crime here, and girls are 14% more likely than those in the UK’s best-performing areas to leave school without strong GCSE results. Local women still earn on average £119 less than their male counterparts.
Nationally, violence against women and girls is hitting epidemic levels—one in twelve women and girls in the UK is a victim every year, with some 3,000 offences reported across England and Wales every single day. Campaigners say real change demands everyone, not just perpetrators, take responsibility for calling out sexism and inequality whenever they see it.
Lucy Horne, Head of Impact and Strategy at Saints Foundation, said: “Southampton is a city of great strengths and somewhere many of us call home, but it faces challenges. One of our biggest is the unacceptably high level of violence against women and girls. If we work together with resolve, we can put a stop to it. Saints Foundation is committed to a proactive, preventative approach—helping people of all ages in our city understand and address the root causes.”
Southampton FC goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu added: “On behalf of the team, this White Ribbon Day, we stand with Saints Foundation behind this important cause, for our fans and our community.”
This year’s White Ribbon Day campaign centres on prevention and long-term change, using education and partnership work with young people to promote positive masculinity, challenge attitudes, and open up new opportunities for girls and women. The morning event at St Mary’s will see figures from Saints Foundation, Southampton City Council, Hampshire Police, White Ribbon UK and Yellow Door on a panel to discuss joint strategies for protecting and empowering women, especially at risk groups and school-age girls.
Panel participants are set to include Beth Osborne (Saints Foundation), Charles Ilderton (Hampshire Police), Maisie Williams (Southampton City Council), and Andy Darbyshire (Southampton FC). Later that evening, fans attending the Leicester fixture will see the campaign front and centre, with content across the matchday programme and big screens as well as activities around the ground.
Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, Deputy CEO of the College of Policing and national police lead for VAWG, called the issue a “national emergency”. She said: “We are absolutely determined to turn the tide on violence and abuse faced by women and girls. The time for accepting VAWG as inevitable is over—real change starts with us all.”
As White Ribbon Day draws focus across the country, Saints Foundation and Southampton FC are calling on every resident to speak up, challenge harmful attitudes and help build a fairer, safer Southampton. Silence, they warn, isn’t neutral—it’s a missed chance to make a difference.
