Attention all men. Women on this campus would like to make a date with you 鈥� a date to begin the end of violence against women.
The Women鈥檚 Center is holding a conference on Saturday, Nov. 1 that is geared toward men and what they can do to help put an end to domestic violence. Violence: A Community Problem will run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and will feature, among other things, keynote addresses by two men, Jackson Katz and Michael Kaufman. Involving men in the effort to end domestic violence is a logical next step, according to Sutapa Basu, director of the Women鈥檚 Center.
鈥淓very 7 seconds a woman in this country experiences domestic violence,鈥� Basu said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been working on this issue for years and the problem has not gone away. So it鈥檚 time that this become a community issue. Men need to be a part of this. That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e focusing on men.鈥�
Basu and others at the Women鈥檚 Center have been busy recruiting participants. They鈥檝e talked with faculty, they鈥檝e talked to fraternities and they鈥檝e worked with a Seattle group of men working to end violence against women. While the center鈥檚 events typically draw mostly women, Basu said she hopes to see 400 people at the event in Kane Hall and hopes that 70 percent of the group is men.
Katz and Kaufman could help her cause. Katz鈥檚 message is regularly geared toward men and he鈥檚 delivered it to such traditionally male-dominated groups as the Marine Corps, several major college athletic departments and even the Seattle Mariners.
Katz says our society needs to adjust its thinking. Violence against women has always been considered a women鈥檚 issue, he says. But he doesn鈥檛 see it that way at all.
鈥淰iolence in general and gender violence in particular is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men,鈥� he said recently from his home in Long Beach, Calif. 鈥淧eople often think rape is a women鈥檚 issue. But what percentage of rape is perpetrated by women? It鈥檚 literally less than 1 percent. Another way of saying that is that more than 99 percent of the perpetrators are men 鈥� and we call rape a women鈥檚 issue?鈥�
Katz will encourage men to take some responsibility for the issue and to hold each other accountable.
Likewise, Michael Kaufman, founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, will urge men to speak out against violence against women. For too long, he says, men have remained silent and through their silence, allowed the violence to continue. His White Ribbon Campaign began in 1991 when a handful of Canadian men decided they had a responsibility to speak out against such violence against women.
The campaign is highlighted by men wearing a white ribbon on Nov. 25, the International Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women. The ribbon symbolizes a man鈥檚 pledge to never commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women.
In addition to lecturing, Katz and Kaufman will facilitate panel groups. 鈥淵oung Men As Allies for Preventing Violence Against Women鈥� will be facilitated by Katz and will include Minister Chris Barry, representatives from the Western Washington University Men Against Violence, and representatives from other local and student organizations. 鈥淐ommunities CAN Prevent Violence Against Women鈥� will be facilitated by Kaufman and will include the UW鈥檚 Carolyn West, Judge James M. Riehl and local attorney Eileen M. Concannon.
The conference will also include a presentation by officers from the Seattle Police Department鈥檚 domestic violence unit.
Registration for the event is $15 and is available via telephone at 206-685-1090 or on the Web at . The fee covers a box lunch. Registration is free for students.