White Ribbon Campaign's Domestic Violence Forum Hosts 2 Speakers

SUDBURY, MA — A major local summit on domestic violence is coming up in two weeks, and the organizer has confirmed two speakers for the event. The main event of the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable will be held on March 14.

Here's more from a press release:

In conjunction with the White Ribbon Campaign to end gender-based violence, the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable presents its first-ever half-day summit examining what it means to be a man in today's culture.

Presented by the Roundtable's White Ribbon Campaign planning committee, the summit, "Tough Guys and Gentle Men: Healthy Men in the Age of #MeToo" is Saturday, March 14. Open to all, the event runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Anne's Episcopal Church, 147 Concord Road, Lincoln.

The keynote speeches are scheduled for 10 a.m., followed by lunch and breakout sessions.
The special guest keynote speakers are:

Emma Brown, a reporter for the Washington Post, has covered sexual violence in schools and on college campuses, and in 2018 wrote the story in which Christine Blasey Ford first came forward publicly to accuse then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. She is working on a book tentatively titled "Good Boys: Raising Boys after #MeToo."

Dan Lebowitz is the executive director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. During his time, the Center has done primary violence prevention work with Major League Baseball, the military, the Boston Police Department and other community engagement entities involved in positive youth development and normative culture change.

Participants will have an opportunity to reflect on often hidden cultural messages impacting boys, men and other genders, and engage in dialogue through small group conversations in the afternoon. The summit will conclude with a call to action, asking those in participation to identify a small or large effort to promote healthier messages on masculinity and gender identity in their own communities.

"The White Ribbon Campaign is intended to raise awareness about the prevalence of male violence
against women," said Sue Rushfirth, president of the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable. "While all genders are vulnerable to abuse, women and girls are more likely to be survivors, and men and boys more likely to be perpetrators. The Campaign affords men and boys the clear opportunity to speak out against all forms of violence and to work as allies to eliminate relationship violence in all its forms."

In addition to the summit, as part of the White Ribbon Campaign, on March 10 the
Roundtable presents a screening of the short film "Boys Don't Cry" followed by a group conversation.

The free event is Tuesday, March 10, at 3 p.m. in the community room of the Wayland Public Safety Building, 38 Cochituate Road. The short film explores how the notion that "boys will be boys" can lead to toxic masculinity.

The White Ribbon Campaign committee previously held a series of small group discussions tackling such issues as what it means to be "a man."

The White Ribbon Campaign started in Canada in 1991 and has grown to an international movement of bringing men together to be part of the solution to help end gender-based violence. In Massachusetts, the state coalition has been hosting events since 2007, with the Domestic Violence Roundtable hosting programs since 2016.

To register for the summit, visit tinyurl.com/yx6rn7fv. The snow date for the summit is March
28. For more information, call Sue Rushfirth at 978-443-0782, email infodvrt@gmail.com or visit
www.domesticviolenceroundtable.org/index.html.