Love Gone Wrong Clips Online

Unfortunately MuchMusic isn't providing an embed for their video clips of Wednesday's MuchTalks episode 'Chris Brown and Rihanna: Love Gone Wrong', but you can watch the episode, in four parts, here.

The show was a bit disappointing. It was hard to take the many of the 'celebrity' 'pundits', few of whom have any professional experience dealing with issues relating to domestic violence, and therefore should not have been presented as authority on the subject, seriously.

Danny Fernandez contradicted himself right off the bat by stating first that it was ok to still love Chris Brown's music because "him as an artist and him as an individual are two different things." But he then agreed that an artist's personal life and the music they create an inextricably linked and "impossible" to separate. So which is it?

Few of the other pundits had anything concrete to say that wasn't mere gossip, although X's comment that all girls should learn self defense was, thankfully, shot down by the professional commentators from YWCA, Kids Help Phone and yes, White Ribbon Campaign and even the hosts themselves.

Aside from one audience member's baffling statement that "Rihanna pushed (Chris Brown) to the point... where he couldn't stop himself" the majority of the youth on hand seemed to agree with WRC's Tuval Dinner that "nobody deserves to be hit no matter what they do to provoke somebody else."

There's an interesting (albeit brief) rundown of the episode on AOL Music Canada. Apparently MTV aired a similar special that was even more exploitative of the issue and images.

Due to the celebrity status of Chris Brown and Rihanna, the underlying issue when people are discussion this particular case of alleged domestic violence is how esteemed gossip editorialists have become. We regard these people as an authority on all things.

But I digress. I should have just said:

Celebrity pundits: boo!
Proffesional pundits: yay!

Wife-Beater Shut Down

Patrick Greene from San Antonio managed to successfully shut down a website that sold 'wife beaters', the extremely unfunny nickname for (usually) white sleeveless undershirts.

The site gave discounts to people who could prove a conviction for domestic assault. Classy!

Nice work Patrick.

Dissolve: A Dramatic Presentation

White Ribbon is pleased to bring you Dissolve: A Dramatic Presentation, a one-woman show that "demonstrates how one night on the town can alter someone's life forever."

White Ribbon Campaign will be on hand after the March 4th performance as part of a panel discussion to address any questions and concerns about the show.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 @ 7:00 p.m.
William Doo Auditorium, New College Residence, 45 Willcocks Street.
For more information contact cheryl(dot)champagne(at)utoronto(dot)ca
Sponsored by the Ask First Campaign, Assault Counsellor/Educator (CALSS), Community
Safety Office, U of T Students Union

We have 50 seats on reserve; please email info(at)whiteribbon(dot)ca to reserve a seat.

You can download a pdf version of the poster/press release here.

CB & Rihanna: Love Gone Wrong

WRC's Tuval Dinner is participating in the latest episode of MuchMusic's MuchOriginal series MUCHTALKS which will be airing this Wednesday February 25th at 6pm (check your local listings).

From their press release:

As the alleged abuse case between pop stars Rihanna and Chris Brown becomes increasingly talked-about, the issue of dating abuse is on the top of teens’ minds. Hosted by VJs Sarah Taylor and Devon Soltendieck, MUCHTALKS gives youth a chance to participate in an open discussion on the situation, tell their stories, and have the chance to pose questions to experts and each other.

The panel also includes Lauren Collins, Alana Wyatt, Perez Hilton, Danny Fernandez, X, Ian Drew and Elizabeth Mendez Berry.

On the same subject, Daily Kos posted this video of a CNN anchor stating that Rihanna must now deal with the 'stigma' of being a victim of domestic violence.



With the mainstream media validating this dangerous misconception, no wonder the prevalent attitude towards cases of domestic violence and/or rape is to blame the victim.

Mapping Goals & Needs

In preparation for the Global Symposium on Engaging Men and Boys in Gender Equality in Rio de Janeiro, the White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) is conducting a brief online survey (less than 10 minutes).

The goals of this confidential and voluntary survey are:

• To begin a mapping of the scope and diversity of the global WRC movement and activities.
  
• To identify strategies for strengthening our capacity to collaborate, communicate and share resources.
  
• To remain true to our core principle that to be most effective in engaging men, to be responsive to diverse issues of gender inequality, and to be culturally relevant on a global scale, communities themselves need the freedom and authority to identify the issues and strategies that facilitate grassroots activism in their local context.
  

This survey is open to anyone who has participated in, partnered with, or organized WRC activities; or anyone who is familiar with our work. Please pass this information along to your networks, and our apologies for any cross posting.

We will present the findings of the survey at the Global Symposium, and the results will also be posted shortly after on our website, www.whiteribbon.com. The survey will close on Wednesday March 11.

You can begine the survey here.

Thank you for taking the time to help us improve our efforts. We hope that this is another step forward in advancing our shared vision of a future with no violence against women.

Respect, Safety, Romance (Eww!) & Love

Extremely endearing PSA from the cast and crew of the Grafton Community Television show Silly Me TV, from Massachusetts.

As Valentine's Day approaches they remind us all to include respect and safety with the chocolates and roses. And certainly not to act like coercive fool.



More information on Mass' WRC can be found here.

Domestic Violence Happens Everywhere, All The Time.

A week ago the term "domestic violence" was not one that was tossed around much in daily conversation. Chris Brown's (alleged) assault on Rihanna has brought this issue to the extreme forefront, covered widely in the mainstream media, countless blogs and even more twitter feeds. A lot of the news is speculation and more disturbingly, complete rumour.

Which is why I felt a certain tingle of synchronicity when I received word that the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) released their annual survey of domestic violence, taken over a 24-hour period on September 17th, 2008.

While the assault on Rihanna has made us all (even Kanye West!) take a cold hard look at domestic violence, we should all continue the momentum of awareness and take the time to read through this report. The statistics are sobering, but most importantly, they highlight that domestic violence happens way too often, every single day in every city.

According to the survey, despite being extremely underfunded, domestic violence programs, in one day:

• served 60,799 victims, 30,433 sought refuge in emergency shelters or transitional housing and the remaining 30,366 received counseling, legal advocacy and children's aid
  
• received 21,683 calls to hotlines
  
• turned down 8,927 requests due to lack of funds and/or resources
  

You can read the one page summary here and the full, thirteen page report here.

If you want to know about the Chris Brown/Rihanna case, Jezebel.com has an excellent recap of the past few days events.

Dissolve: A Dramatic Presentation

White Ribbon is pleased to bring you Dissolve: A Dramatic Presentation, a one-woman show that "demonstrates how one night on the town can alter someone's life forever."

White Ribbon Campaign will be on hand after the March 4th performance as part of a panel discussion to address any questions and concerns about the show.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 @ 7:00 p.m.
William Doo Auditorium, New College Residence, 45 Willcocks Street.
For more information contact cheryl(dot)champagne(at)utoronto(dot)ca
Sponsored by the Ask First Campaign, Assault Counsellor/Educator (CALSS), Community
Safety Office, U of T Students Union

We have 50 seats on reserve; please email info(at)whiteribbon(dot)ca to reserve a seat.

You can download a pdf version of the poster/press release here.

Speaking Out Newsletter

The latest issue of Speaking Out the official newsletter of WRC Canada has just been launched.

This issue is focused on some of the amazing support we've had recently, and new ways to continue your support of WRC.

You can view in only here, or download the pdf version here.

If you would like to sign up to receive our newsletter in your inbox, please subscribe here.

The Grammys

I spent 3 and a half hours watching the Grammys last night and aside from the mind blowing drum major-backed Radiohead it seemed to be a night to celebrate old men from the 60s, 70s and 80s which I didn't find overly inspiring. Don't get me wrong, there is, obviously, amazing music from those eras, but Neil Diamond isn't it. That's just my opinion.

But I digress.

What really struck me was what followed the the Grammys' memorial tribute. The last person mentioned was Bo Diddley, a rock icon famous for his cigar box guitar and "Bo Diddley Beat." He is also famous for including women in his band, not only as back up singers, but also as guitar players, playing up front alongside him. It is believed that he is one of the first in rock 'n roll to do this, first with Peggy Jones (Lady Bo) and then most famously, Norma-Jean Wofford (The Dutchess).

You'd think that the Grammys would have then found at least one woman to join the men (BB King, Keith Urban, Buddy Guy, John Mayer - all amazing musicians in their own right) who followed the memorial with a tribute song. There were certainly more than enough women there.



Not to mention that the Grammys got off to a bad start with the news that Rihanna missed the Grammys due to an alleged assault.

Sarcasm Against Violence

Our constantly-connected lives via facebook, myspace, email, text messages, IMs, twitter, blogs (and probably even more that I'm not cool/young enough to know about yet - what ever happened to 'zines?) leaves us open for constant and instantaneous (and at times anonymous) harassment.

thatsnotcool.com is great online resource that aims to educate, mainly young kids and teens about textual harassment, privacy issues, "pic pressure", dealing with rumors and so much more.

The site has great videos, tons of interactivity and my favorite, the Callout Cards.

Tasks Forces, Resources & Recessions

Making the rounds of Twitter:








The Gender Equity Task Force at the University of Texas at Austin has released its report, which recomends a 5-10 year gender equity plan that aims to "reduce or eliminate faculty gender inequity—specifically with respect to hiring, promotion, salaries and governance."

A year in the making, the report found that, not surprisingly, gaps "in areas of faculty representation, promotion and attrition for faculty advancing through the ranks, salary and leadership."

Read the the full report here.

Royal Tropical Institute have released a new toolkit for promoting gender equity in local governance. It can be found here.

Is the recession leading to a rise in domestic violence? Extremely stressful situations (and this is about as universally stressful as you can get) are often catalysts to acting out in a violent manner.

Polytechnique

Here is the trailer for the Denis Villeneuve film about the December 6th, 1989 "Montreal Massacre" at L'ecole polytechnique.

The film is simply titled "Polytechnique" and it looks intense.



I do not envy Maxim Gaudette's role.

It will be in theaters this Friday, February 6th.

Living Breathless

Living Breathless is a new anti-domestic violence PSA out of Quebec (warning: may be uncomfortable for aqua/clausterphobes).

I have no doubt that intense and/or extreme campaigns of this nature draw attention to their respective issues (ie - me blogging about it) but do they actually do anything to effect change? Or are they quickly forgotten once we've overcome the shock. Are PSAs that focus on positive aspects of issue (people working towards positive change) more effective?

Here is another video from the same campaign (French only)

WRC on Flickr.

white ribbon campaign -25 nov. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Uploaded by alterelfo on 16 Nov 06, 1.19PM EST.

It think it's time to set up a White Ribbon Campaign flickr group.

Violence & Teen Dating

This week is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Week in the United States.

Safespace.org is a website that is an amazing resource for all things related to dating violence. This week Safespace.org will be posting an on-going list of activities you can either put on yourself or take part in.

Student Film

Three students from Parkdale made this video for White Ribbon activities.

It was not done as a class project or for marks, they just wanted to do it to get a message out to kids who might need to know what to do in a case like this.

Super Bowl, Bell Bajao & Biblicaly Battered

Making the rounds of Twitter:


Increased reports of domestic violence on Super Bowl Sunday. Fact? Fiction? Either way it continues to propagate sexism.




According to Tom Holladay of the Saddleback Family feels that your spouse must be in the “habit of beating you regularly” for a separation to be "biblically" justified. Jocelyn Andersen would like to know “How many beatings would have to take place in order to qualify as regularly?”




"Bell Bajao" an international campaign takes WRC's pledge to "never remain silent" in the face of violence against women and expands it with an excellent media campaign.