A campaign to challenge and change attitudes to violence against women is now underway in South Ayrshire.
A full programme of events is taking place as part of the White Ribbon Campaign's '16 days of action', from Friday, 25 November until Sunday, 10 December, which aims to tackle male attitudes to domestic violence.
This year's campaign comes at a time when sexual abuse is making international headlines, with a number of high profile public figures facing a multitude of allegations.
This has sparked fresh debate about unacceptable male behaviour and its impact on women, something which is central to the 16 days of action campaign, which aims to stimulate debate and eradicate abuse. Events involving South Ayrshire this year include: Pan-Ayrshire Schools sexual exploitation awareness conference at Ayrshire College, Kilmarnock (Thursday, 30, November). Domestic abuse seminar at County Buildings (Friday, 1 December).
#Labels equality for women play from Ayrshire College to S6 pupils at Ayr Academy (Monday, 4 December).
'Working together' mixed team football competition for Ayr, Kyle, and Belmont Academies promoting the reporting of domestic violence (Monday, 4 December).
Workshops on the danger of sending sexually explicit texts, with Campus Police officers talking to S1's at Carrick and Girvan Academies (Thursday 7 December).
Councillor Laura Brennan-Whitefield, Chair of the Multi-Agency Partnership (MAP) said that 2017 looked to be a watershed moment, "We've seen a huge outpouring of allegations against men accused of abusing positions of power, with international debate now firmly focused on ending violence against women. "But this isn't just an issue for people in the public eye and sadly all too often women are suffering physical and mental abuse every single day right here in South Ayrshire. "By taking a stand and saying no to violence, we'll help to expose these issues and change lives for the better, something that I believe should be supported by each and every one of us." A full list of events happening for the 16 days of action inn Ayrshire can be found here. For more details on the White Ribbon Campaign, click here.