The history of the anti-sexual violence movement has been characterized by a push to end “violence against women and girls,” and to be clear: sexual violence against women and girls is an epidemic that needs to be addressed. And also, we know that women and girls aren’t the only ones who experience sexual violence, and when we consistently frame our language around men as harmdoers and women as victims, we can unintentionally cause harm to men who are survivors, to LGBTQ folks, and to nonbinary people as well. We also run the risk of failing to help women understand how some of their behaviors might be abusive or nonconsensual, which impacts the effectiveness of our prevention strategies. How do we engage in meaningful, culturally-relevant work to engage men and boys in the work to end sexual violence while using language that is inclusive? This workshop brings together anti-violence experts who work in a variety of settings, to include work with LGBTQ individuals and (cis and trans) men and boys, for a discussion about the ways we talk about gender in sexual violence prevention.
Facilitator: Chris Croft, Prevention Education Program Manager at NCCASA
Conversation partners:
Kelly Clark, Ames Simmons, Ted Bunch, Elena Galano