Man Up Calls on Young Leaders to Stop VAW

Press Release:

Man Up Calls on Young Leaders to Stop Violence Against Women at Global Summit, World Cup 2010

Immediate Call for Applications

NEW YORK, December 13, 2009 – During The World Cup 2010 in South Africa, Man Up will bring together 200 young men and women from 50 countries at the launch of a five-year campaign to stop violence against women and girls. The call for applications to become a delegate to Man Up’s Young Leaders Summit is being announced today.

Delegates to the Summit will learn how to plan and execute initiatives in their native countries and will be offered a multitude of resources and guidance from renowned non-governmental organizations, athletes, musicians and artists throughout the five-year campaign. This same cadre of delegates will gather again in Brazil at The World Cup 2014 to share their experiences and demonstrate how youth can make the world a safer place for women and girls.

“Half the world’s population is at risk, and has been since the beginning of recorded history,” declares Karen Robinson, Co-Founder, Managing Director of Man Up, and former Education Director at Amnesty International, referring to the statistic that one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. “Man Up is committed to changing this persistent injustice by supporting young people in leading a grassroots, but globally connected and supported movement.”

Yvonne Chaka Chaka, legendary South African musician and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, describes Man Up as “a brilliant campaign which captures the heart of young people. Using music and soccer as a catalyst for change is the best way to motivate young leaders to transform how women and girls are treated in every country, in every city, in every home around the world.”

“Violence against women is not just a women’s issue, it affects all of us,” says Jimmie Briggs, Man Up’s Co-Founder, Executive Director and renowned author, journalist and activist. “Everyone needs to be part of the solution. We owe it to our daughters and their daughters.”

Man Up’s call for applications falls during 16 Days of Activism to End Gender Violence, an annual campaign that has been used as an organizing strategy around the world to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women.

Visit Man Up’s website to download the application: www.manupcampaign.org.

About Man Up
Man Up is an international campaign that mobilizes young leaders in a movement to stop violence against women and girls. Harnessing the universal power of music and sport, Man Up provides innovative training, resources and support to young men and women and the organizations that collaborate with them.

Man Up was announced at the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2009 in partnership with Vital Voices Global Partnership. Man Up is funded, in part, by NoVo Foundation, V-Day and Ms. Foundation, and is fiscally sponsored by the Alliance for Peace Building, a 501(c)(3) public charity.

Contact:
Jessica Greer Morris
Principal, Communications
917 309 0548
jessica@manupcampaign.org

Ontario Boosts Woman’s Abuse Prevention In London

McGuinty Government Invests In Domestic Violence Prevention for Workplaces

Employers and employees in London will soon be able to access additional resources and training on how to recognize and respond to domestic violence in their workplaces.

The province is supporting a workplace training program delivered through the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children in London, that will give both employers and employees access to the information and tools they need to recognize the signs of abuse and take appropriate action.

Ontario is providing over $622,000 to the Centre, which will also reach out to help keep women safe in other communities including people with disabilities.

The program is an expansion of the Ontario government’s successful Neighbours, Friends and Families awareness campaign that is now in more than 170 communities across the province.

“I’m proud of the expansion of our Neighbours, Friends and Families Public Education Campaign into workplaces. By teaching employers and co-workers the signs of woman abuse and what they can do to help, this campaign can help save lives and improve productivity in our workplaces.”

Deb Matthews, MPP, London North Centre; Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues

“We know that domestic violence can follow women into the workplace. The Neighbours, Friends and Families campaign has developed a workplace engagement strategy to teach skills and responsibilities so that everyone in the workplace can respond in a helpful manner when this happens. “

Barb McQuarrie, Community Director, Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children

QUICK FACTS

• 70% of individuals suffering from domestic violence are victimized at work.
• The economic cost of violence against women to health, criminal justice and social services and in lost productivity is in the billions of dollars.

LEARN MORE

Find a local Neighbours, Friends and Families campaign near you or find out how to start one
in your community.

Read more about Ontario’s efforts to help ensure workplace health and safety.

Learn more about Violence Against Women.
Contact: Deb Matthews, MPP
(519) 432-7339

Walk A Mile In Her Shoes Toronto #wamto

Ready to take up the high heel challenge?

Stiletto or pump, flat or sling back, patent leather or leopard print, or even flip flops — you decide. All that matters is that you come with your game face on, ready to strut your stuff for the women in your life. In fact, bring them along with you, side by side, in support of a future without violence.

Thousands of men will take over the city's business core this Fall to raise awareness and funds in an effort to end violence against women. This first Toronto edition of the Walk A Mile In Her Shoes® fundraising event asks men to literally walk one mile in women's high-heeled shoes. It's not easy, but it gets the community talking about something that's really difficult to talk about gender relations and sexual violence.

If you are interested in getting volunteering, participating or learning more information, please visit walkamiletoronto.org. Official registration will begin online on August 4th, 2009.

The Cost Of DV And A Helpful New Service

First, the 2008 Domestic Violence Point-in-Time Survey, released today in Kansas City, MO, (my pseudo home town!) by the Environmental Health and Safety Group Focus Area work group found that domestic violence costs nearly $58,000 a day in mostly taxpayer funds. This represents $21 million dollars a year.

Hopefully addressing the costs of DV in monetary terms will help some people visualize the seemingly out of control social disaster.

Read the full article here: KC Gardens - Survey details cost of domestic violence.

Some better news (relatively) from Cornerstone in Minnesota who are trying to go national with a software program that connects victims of domestic violence with the appropriate (available) shelter space so they can escape the violence.

Susan Neis, Cornerstone's executive director, said "Day One is much more than a sophisticated web site... It works to build a dialogue, a trust, between the programs that participate."

Read the full article here: MinnPost -Software connects domestic violence victims with open shelter beds

New measures to support victims of sexual assault

New measures to support victims of sexual assault

From the UK:

New measures to improve the investigation and prosecution of rape and to provide support to victims were announced today by Home Office Minister, Vernon Coaker.

The new measures follow discussions with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) (new window) to ensure the best possible support for victims of rape. The measures include:

• Up to £1.8 million of new funding for Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) and Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs)
• Helping every police force to ensure that all victims are seen by a specially trained officer within an hour of reporting
• Training for police officers on what do when a rape is first reported
• New National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) (new window) ‘best practice’ guidance for the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) (new window) on investigating and prosecuting rape to be published this summer and the provision of an expert support team to ensure consistent implementation
• A Rape Performance Group, led by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) (new window) and the CPS to monitor police and CPS performance on rape and undertake continuous assessments of performance
• An investigation into how the best practice guidance has been implemented by the HMIC in 2010
• Ensuring that the police involve specialist sexual violence voluntary sector services in delivering training programmes on rape for the police
• Specific rape sessions as part of the Violence Against Women and Girls consultation programme.