Movember is our November

Movember is a particular month for Avoteca’s team. Brought to us by our CTO, Gautier Briard, it quickly got our attention, and we’ve decided to get involved and promote this movement.

Oh, wait, Mo-what?

If you haven’t heard about Movember by now, no worries, we’ve got you covered. Briefly, Movember is an annual event involving the growing of moustaches during November to raise awareness of men's health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's suicide. The Movember Foundation runs the Movember charity event, housed at Movember.com, and us at Avoteca we’ve got our own donation section on their website.

Ok, ok, and how did you guys end up being involved in this?

For starters, you should read Gautier’s story and how he got involved in this. Therefore we’ve sat with Gautier over a virtual coffee and here’s what we’ve got from him:

"I discovered Movember at a football tournament in England in 2012. At first, it was just a fun moustache growing with friends, a nice poster and a shaving kit.
But then I got to know more the values and motivations behind it. I discovered a lot of illnesses and issues spread around the world and of what I had no idea. I must say it kind of shocked me at that time. And, since then I’m promoting Movember every year in my groups of friends and family.

Why I do that?

Because we need to talk about these men’s untold subjects like prostate cancer, testicular cancer or mental health, the effect of some of these illnesses leads to erection problems - a very uncomfortable topic for many men. It is hard to talk about that when these illnesses are basically in total opposition with the image men must have in our society.

What can each of us do?

There’re several actions promoted by the Movember community that can be undertaken to raise awareness. But, as we all, MoBro and MoSista, have men we care about. Family, such as brothers, cousins, nephews, uncles or friends such as bros and besties - men that might not go early enough to check-ups or are afraid to talk, for them I do Movember.”

Inspired by his story, we’ve gone doing what everyone does - google the movement and learn as much as possible.

We’ve learnt that globally, men die on average six years earlier than women, and for mostly preventable reasons, which means that it doesn’t have to be like that.

We’ve also learnt that 70% of men say their friends can rely on them for support, but only 48% say that they rely on their friends. In other words: we’re here for our friends but worried about asking for help for ourselves. Remember how we use to say: oh, but men don’t talk about that. Well, there’s more to add on the what-men-don’t-talk-about list.

Friends, let’s reach out to the men that we care about - is crucial. here you can grasp a general view over men's health.

What’s next?

The next logical step for all of us at Avoteca was to get involved in this campaign.

We’ve not only donated or signed a contract with ourselves to be a part of this, but we’re committed to doing our best to raise awareness around this movement in our communities.

I’m Monica 👆 and I’ll move 60km this month for those 60 men we lose to suicide every hour across the world.

What can you do to contribute?

• You can donate to our campaign, and you can share it with your friends.
• You can help us raise awareness by sharing this blog post and engaging with our social media campaign.
• You can choose to join the Movember on your own - but before doing that, remember that together we are stronger.

How can I take part?

Depending on your preferences, you can either:

• Grow a moustache - your face will raise funds and awareness for men’s health.
• Move for Movember - run or walk 60km over the month, for the 60 men we lose to suicide every hour across the world.
• Host a Mo-ment - rally a crew and do something fun and easy, virtual or in person.

That’s all. It’s up to you, but let’s not forget that we’ve got the power to drive all the changes we want to see in the world.

We can be inclusive and changing stereotypes.

At Avoteca, we’re working towards facilitating the lawyer-client relationship, supporting independent lawyers to thrive and helping digital nomads find the right lawyer.

Monica Sibișteanu

Marketer & Community Manager

08 November 2020