Men in Vermont join together to fight violence against women

[wicket]

Bless them all.

LINK

Men around Burlington are donning white ribbons, symbolizing their membership in a new group devoting to ending violence against women.

"We men need to hold each other accountable for violence against women," said Ron Redmond, the group's prime organizer and director of the Church Street Marketplace Commission. "This is something we can do." Some 300 members — all men — have paid $10 to join the White Ribbon Campaign since it was organized in late December, Redmond said. They include police officers, lawyers, clergymen, businessmen and elected officials including Mayor Bob Kiss.

The ribbon symbolizes not just support but action: To earn one, the wearer must have spoken with at least one other man or boy about preventing violence against women. The Burlington-based group is modeled on one started in Canada in 1991, after a gunman killed 14 female students at the University of Montreal. The Canadian group now claims 100,000 members.

Redmond said formation of the local group was prompted by the rapes and killings of Burlington resident Laura Winterbottom in 2005 and University of Vermont student Michelle Gardner-Quinn in October.

Police said both women were victimized by men they didn't know. The men charged, Gerald Montgomery in the Winterbottom case and Brian Rooney in the Gardner-Quinn case, are awaiting trail for murder.

Redmond said both murders were "like a punch in the gut. I remember feeling so helpless. I felt like this is really not OK. This is our community. This is where we live. This is where we work."

[Jamastiene]

1. Good for them and the influence they can have on others.

Now, that's the kind of good I want to see more often.

[Cerridwen]

2. Yay!

This brought tears to my eyes. Especially this part "The ribbon symbolizes not just support but action: To earn one, the wearer must have spoken with at least one other man or boy about preventing violence against women." (emphasis added)


They "get" it.

[Dora]

3. Can we please get this on Greatest?

Thank you, my brothers.

[lukasahero]

14. It's there

Now let's see if we can keep it in circulation. ;)

:kick:

[wicket]

16. And again

:kick:

[valerief]

4. I wish violence could be eliminated rather than fought. That said,

bravo to these guys.

[donsu]

5. wow - thank you men of Vermont

nt

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Good grief

"We men need to hold each other accountable for violence against women."

What bullshit. I am not in any way responsible or accountable for the violence of some other man. The belief in group guilt is unacceptable.

[havocmom]

7. Don't believe it's about 'group guilt' but rather the complicity of silence

which has been too previlant for too damned long.

'Holding men accountable', as in: hold the guilty people accountable instead of just shrugging your shoulders and looking for a game on TV.

edit: typo

[Cerridwen]

8. It's called 'peer pressure' and it's a completely effective way

to influence behavior in the workplace, in affinity groups and in society at large. It's about modeling and discussing appropriate behavior, sort of a "lead by example" kind of thing. It happens all the time in groups of people.

[mongo]

9. What if it was re-phrased this way

Men need to hold other men accountable for their violence against women

Men need to teach their sons and daughters that violence against women is unnacceptable

I don't think the intent is "group guilt" here. The intent is for men to change the culture.

What if your daughter's boyfriend jokingly told you he needed to "smack her around" and "get her in line"? Would you take issue with him?

[DavidDvorkin]

12. We imbued our son with our values

And I know (to the extent that a parent can ever claim to know such things) that he'd never be violent toward a woman.

I don't have a daughter, but if I did, that hypothetical boyfriend would probably quickly be an ex-boy. Primitive male violent reaction, but there it is.

If I misinterpreted the original line, or reacted to it too quickly and viscerally, I apologize. But it's a line I've been hearing for many years, and in context it always strikes me as both assigning group guilt and as holding all men responsible for the actions of all other men.

[Morgana LaFey]

17. It's neither.

The simple fact is that until more men start challenging more men on the issue of violence against women, violence against women is unlikely to stop. We're asking you to give a damn, and take the small action of challenging other men on their violent attitudes, that's all.

[seabeyond]

19. i take personal respnsibility for my gender when we abuse men

in our way. i take responsibility for my religion (christianity) when we abuse and feel i am obligated and responsible for standing up against it amongst my own. i take responsibility for my race (white) when we abuse and i feel it is my responsiblity to stand up against it with my group.

i disagree with you. i believe that will be the only way we will heal

[mongo]

10. K & R

and kudos to the organization.

[RedEarth]

11. I think it's a great idea that hopefully will spread nationwide

I'm so sick of hearing about violence against women and for that matter violence against anyone. Tragically, violence in general seems to be getting worse.

[lukasahero]

13. Bravo!

Men of Vermont: :yourock: :applause:

[wicket]

15. kick

:kick:

[WindRavenX]

18. awesome to hear

:kick:

[etherealtruth]

20. Wonderful to hear!

[Bunny]

21. That's beautiful! Way to go, Vermont men!

:patriot:

[Morgana LaFey]

22. The White Ribbon Campaign & Men Stopping VIolence

The White Ribbon symbolizes a man’s pledge to never commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women. The White Ribbon Campaign is the world’s largest effort by men to end men’s violence against women.
http://www.whiteribbon.com/

This may be new, but it's by no means the ONLY male initiative on the subject. Men Stopping Violence goes back for several decades.

Men Stopping Violence is a social change organization dedicated to ending men's violence against women.

Men Stopping Violence works locally, nationally, and internationally to dismantle belief systems, social structures, and institutional practices that oppress women and children and dehumanize men themselves. We look to the violence against women's movement to keep the reality of the problem and the vision of the solution before us. We believe that all forms of oppression are interconnected. Social justice work in the areas of race, class, gender, age, and sexual orientation are all critical to ending violence against women.

http://www.menstoppingviolence.org/index.php

[wicket]

23. Thanks for the info

n/t

[wicket]

24. kick

:kick: