The community is encouraged to join St Peter’s Anglican Church from midday on November 25 to light a candle and ‘shine a light on gender-based violence’, standing in solidarity against the crime.

Men’s violence against women is an epidemic the movement White Ribbon is bent on stopping by engaging and working with men to create an Australia where every woman is safe from all forms of men’s abuse.

“Men play a really important role in encouraging other men to develop respectful and healthy relationships with women,” White Ribbon’s Liam Dooely said.

As a community, Leeton is no stranger to the devastation of violence against women after the 2015 tragic murder of school teacher Stephanie Scott, a fact acknowledged by Mr Dooley as he visited Leeton on Thursday to meet with council, local schools and other supporters.

“There is a lot of work already being done in regional communities like Leeton to create a safer community with a positive treatment of women and we want to see what kind of initiatives White Ribbon can support,” he said.

Mr Dooley said one of the most important messages to remember when it comes to violence against women is understanding it is not confined to only one part of society.

“It knows no bounds,” he said.

“It is not based around culture or social standing or geography, it is a problem that can affect everyone – one in three women will report physical violence at the hands of a man, no community is immune from it and Leeton has seen that first hand

“What we do is not about pointing the finger and saying all men are violent, only a small proportion of men are violent towards women,” he said.

“But that just means the silent majority need to speak out and make the message clear that violence against women won’t be accepted.”