National Council of Women President, Ann Davison, co-hosted a joint event on Monday with White Ribbon UK CEO Lynne Elliot, on men working to end violence against women.
The speakers were Jackson Katz, co-founder of Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP); Dr Michael Flood, an internationally recognised researcher on men, masculinities, and violence prevention and Professor at the Queensland University of Technology; and, Michael Kaufman, co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign.
It was heartening and inspiring to hear of their lifetime commitment to the cause. They said they spoke up out of compassion for women and anger at the violence, but also in compassion for men feeling boxed into an unhelpful idea of manhood. They expressed concern about the ‘manosphere’ and a conviction that men needed to step up as mentors to boys suffering from confusion.
Jo Kinsey of UK Business and Professional Women chaired the Q and A, particularly querying at what age social media could be suitable.
Our President, Ann Davison, interviewed Lynne Elliot, CEO of White Ribbon (and an NCW member).
We discussed how the Online Safety Act only goes so far in protecting from the manosphere. We can mentor but the tech companies need to prevent toxic material appearing in the first place. Children viewing pornography has led to a damaging effect on relationships and behaviours and its all pervasiveness is problematic for adults too.
Ann mentioned NCW’s upcoming workshop on Internet harms and that men can join NCW as friends.