Welcome to the Uncommon Man, MRI's pro-feminist weblog exploring issues and initiatives related to gender-equality, gender-based violence, and new models of masculinity, through the lenses of research, politics, community, culture, personal experience and opinion.
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In addition to our own writing, we publish relevant letters, articles, essays, snippets, rants, and research that catch our eye. We welcome submissions, comments, and questions - contact us at info[at]mensresourcesinternational.org.
December 10, 2008
Springfield Roundtable
Connecting Advocates of Family Violence Prevention and Positive Masculinity
Co-hosted by Men's Resources International and the Engaging Men Practicum Group
Overall Goal:
To increase the involvement of men as allies with women in preventing family violence, and as positive role models for children.
Roundtable Objectives:
To assemble a group of Springfield-based professionals and volunteers directly involved with family violence prevention and/or positive masculinity as it relates to healthy relationships and families.
To identify common values and share areas of experience and expertise with each other.
To identify potential opportunities for collaboration and collective action.
To discuss visions for a Springfield-based network for engaging men and boys as allies with women in violence prevention and healthy families.
Attendance:
Over 30 people attended the event representing a rich diversity of organizations, experience and expertise. All shared a commitment to working with Springfield men, women and youth to create healthier relationships, families and communities. The discussion was animated and exciting, with participants expressing enthusiasm and optimism about the possibility for collective action. Several ideas for next steps were proposed and communication and planning among group members is ongoing.
Posted by Daniel at 05:02 PM | Comments (0)
December 03, 2008
New web site highlights what works to prevent violence
WHO and Liverpool John Moores University's Centre for Public Health have launched today an important new web site highlighting what works to prevent violence. Geared towards policy-makers and violence prevention researchers, practitioners and advocates, the web site marks the first time that information on effective violence prevention programmes is available in a searchable web-based data base.
Violence is responsible for 1.6 million deaths every year of which half are suicides, a third homicides, and a tenth due to war and other forms of collective violence. Millions more people are injured and psychologically scarred by violence each year, often with life-long consequences. Violence costs economies billions of dollars annually in direct health, legal, and welfare costs and indirect costs due to lost productivity. This seriously impedes the development of low-income and middle-income countries.
Violence can be prevented and its impact reduced by adopting an evidence-based public health approach. Such an approach seeks to prevent violence before it occurs, by reducing the factors that place people at risk and reinforcing those which protect them. The new website includes:
*A searchable data base of abstracts from published studies that measure the effectiveness of interventions to prevent violence. The abstracts can be searched by violence type (child abuse, elder abuse, intimate partner violence, youth violence, sexual violence), keywords, and geographical area of implementation.
*Resources including key publications on violence and its prevention;
*Information and links to relevant organizations, including the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA), a WHO-led network of agencies dedicated to preventing violence using the public health approach;
*News including updates on new violence prevention events and publications;
*An opportunity for organizations to contribute to the web site by submitting resources.
The Violence Prevention web site can be accessed at: http://www.nwph.net/preventviolence/default.aspx
For further information, please contact Dr Christopher Mikton at miktonc@who.int
RELATED LINKS
WHO violence prevention:
http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/en/
Violence Prevention Alliance:
http://www.who.int/violenceprevention/en/index.html
Global Campaign for Violence Prevention:
http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/global_campaign/en/index.html
Posted by Aaron Buford at 01:36 PM | Comments (0)
