Reframing Masculinity: Vulnerability and Responsibility: What Should Violence Prevention Look Like?

SUDBURY, WAYLAND, MA -- To end 2014, the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable held a very well-attended workshop titled “What Should a Violence Prevention Program Look Like in our Communities?”

The ideas that emerged from that session formed the basis for the Roundtable’s 2015-16 program.

The second program in the series: “Reframing Masculinity: Vulnerability and Responsibility” takes place on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, at 7 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room of the Goodnow Library located at 21 Concord Road, Sudbury.

The featured speaker is Matthew Swoveland, who focuses his talk on the social, emotional needs of young men.

The statistics are alarming and difficult to comprehend; 1 in 6 boys have been the victim of violence before adulthood, said the announcement. However, most violence against women is perpetrated by men.

Swoveland leads a conversation about navigating this challenging reality, sharing stories from his work and discussing ways to help boys and young men own both their strength and their vulnerability.

Swoveland is deputy director at The Second Step, where he is leading innovative new programming to reach young survivors of domestic abuse, build their resiliency, and create bright futures.

He comes to this work after having served five years as a crisis counselor for the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, where he was among the first men to take calls on their 24-hour hotline. Prior to The Second Step, Swoveland worked with high risk and formerly incarcerated youth at Roca Inc., and oversaw the youth work team during the roll-out of the Massachusetts “Pay for Success” social innovation financing project.

He is an author and scholar, and his blog posts have been featured on Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Follow him on Twitter: @mswoveland.

The program is free and open to the public.

Photo and information: Sudbury-Lincoln-Wayland Domestic Violence Roundtable