White Ribbon Riders visited Whakatāne and Kawerau this weekend as they launched their annual North Island ride to raise awareness of domestic and sexual violence.

The riders visited the Sunday Market, where they were joined by Minister for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour.

Ms Chhour addressed the market, telling everyone to “hug your kids”.

“Show them you’re proud of them, let them know what it’s like to grow up in a home where they are safe and loved.

“Giving a voice to violence is not okay.”

Zonta Club Whakatāne, Have a Heart Community Trust and Family Works helped organise the event.

Zonta volunteers organised a display of chairs to represent the average number of women and children who die by male violence each year. There were 23 chairs laid out for women, 10 for children and two for youth.

Zonta volunteer Liddy Bakker said: “These statistics are very murky, finding out the cause of death for these victims sometimes takes years. We used statistics from New Zealand Police, Family Harm and Auckland University,” she said.

Ride facilitator Cathy Tawera said the market goers were very welcoming.

“People stopped, watched and asked questions – everybody was interested, we were there until 1pm,” she said.

“Our role is to raise the awareness and connect the community with local services, so when something comes up, they’ll have that link.”

The following morning, the riders rolled into Kawerau where Eastbay REAP, Plunket and Family Works hosted a free sausage sizzle and White Ribbon event at the Town Hall.

Ride leader Takurua Tawera said it was great to bring the riders to the place he came from.

“It takes a lot of energy to get people’s attention around domestic and sexual violence. We know violence is an effect of people’s pain, and men use violence to cope with the situations they are in,” he said.

“We are encouraging people to challenge their own world views and beliefs now we’re in the modern era. We need to look at these outdated messages and inputs from society that are no longer relevant.

“Women are our leaders, and men have to be more responsible; disrupt that male thinking around toxic masculinity,” he said.

“We need to tell boys, it’s cool to cry, it’s cool to feel through the insecurity, instead of telling them to toughen up.”

Family Works coordinator Helen Holt said the two events were “amazing”.

“We had a great response from the community, and a great collaboration from different agencies,” she said.

“The riders thoroughly enjoyed themselves and felt they were able to get their kaupapa across.”

Heartlands and Eastbay REAP coordinator Gloria Leokava Taani said the day in Kawerau was “absolutely beautiful”.