Travelling from Wellington for the meeting were Glen Houlihan, District Grand Master of the Blue Lodge for the Hutt Wairarapa District; and Geoff Davies, First Grand Principal of Royal Arch Masonry in New Zealand.
Also attending were a group from the Widows Sons, the Masonic motorcycle club.
Mr Davies said he had a "lightbulb moment" when attending a White Ribbon fundraiser breakfast, and listening to a speech from ambassador and Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier.
"Freemasons is a men's organisation, and [family violence] is a men's issue - so White Ribbon seemed like the perfect fit," Mr Davies said.
"At the moment, we have one of the highest rates of domestic violence in the developed world, and men need to be standing up and taking ownership."
Mr Davies said White Ribbon's work fits with Freemasonry's core principals integrity, goodwill and charity.
"The first item of the Freemason's Code is to share a concern and respect for human values, moral standards, the laws of society and the rights of individuals," he said.
"If that doesn't give a clear indication of what White Ribbon is about, I don't know what does.
"We want to bring Freemasonry into the public arena, and say, 'we're here, and we're ready to help.'"
In his presentation, Mr Logan explained the history of White Ribbon - spearheaded by a group of Canadian men in 1991, after 14 women in Montreal were killed by a gunman with misogynist motives.
The movement later spread to 60 countries, and was introduced to New Zealand in 2004.
Mr Logan said Wairarapa was one of the first places to hold a White Ribbon March, inspired by the deaths of Masterton sisters Saliel Aplin and Olympia Jetson.
"At that march, there were about 100 of us - and we were surrounded by people hissing and booing," Mr Logan said.
"Now, the community looks forward to White Ribbon every year."
He pointed out some sobering statistics - 1 in 3 New Zealand women will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime, and police attend over 1000 family violence call-outs in Wairarapa each year.
Some members visibly winced when he mentioned 14 New Zealand women are murdered each year by their partners.
"We see about 120 men [at Stopping Violence Services] each year, and they're not always the scary psychopaths -- most are just regular blokes, like you and I," Mr Logan said. "It happens right across society."
Mr Logan then explained the ways men can speak out -- taking the White Ribbon pledge, challenging sexist attitudes, not making excuses for violence, reporting violence in their communities and modelling respect and equality.
Also addressing the crowd was Widows Son and fellow ambassador Jackie Adams, based in Lower Hutt.
Mr Adams was a homicide detective in his native Belfast -- and, for every IRA homicide investigated, there were two women murdered by their spouses.
Working as a detective on the West Coast, his first five cases were domestic homicides.
"I've dealt with too many dead bodies, and don't want to see any more," Mr Adams said.
"Freemasonry is about making good men better -- and good men don't come home and beat their wives and kids."
At the end of the meeting, the members all took White Ribbon pledge -- not to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women and children.
