We need a paradigm shift in our thinking about domestic violence, says Jackson Katz, an anti-sexist male activist.
“It’s time to stop calling it a women’s issue,” said the educator, author and filmmaker who has spent years speaking out on the issue of gender violence.
Author of The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help, Katz will speak at Beth Tzedec Congregation on May 20, 7: 30 p.m., during an evening sponsored by Jewish Women International Canada.
Speaking from his California home, Katz, 48, who is married with a seven-year-old son, said that domestic violence has always been seen as a women’s issue, “simply because it is women that talk about it. Since they talk about it, it is seen as their problem.
“That’s all wrong, though. The issue of gender violence is a man’s issue, first and foremost. We need men to step forward. They need to take a more prominent role in speaking out.”
He cannot name one specific incident that challenged him to step forward, he said, “but as a student at University of Massachusetts, I was 18 and I was outraged by what I saw. I knew that if I feared for my safety as many of the women students did, I would be very unhappy. I knew that I was in a position to do something.”
As part of a growing movement of men who are working on the issue, he admitted that some men feel threatened by other men who speak out against sexism or domestic violence.
“They’re afraid to face the issues because to deal with it, you have to admit what it means to be a man in our culture. Men are committing lots of violence, and statistics say that one in four women on a college campus will be raped. That is all messed up, and something has to be done.”
When we work with women and girls in order to teach them the signs of domestic abuse and how to take care of themselves, we are able to reduce the risks, he said. “Preventing violence, however, means going to the root cause of the problem.”
Katz said that early intervention is critical. “Women abuse is not genetic or biological. Some boys learn that part of being a man means being dominant and controlling over women. They feel entitled, and most boys do not learn this from watching their fathers. They learn their behaviour outside of their home.
“Young boys are as loving as young girls, but then what happens? The answer is not simple, because it is deeply rooted in the structure of society. It is not aberrational behaviour. The solutions are complex, but something has gone on and we need to face it.”
In high schools and university campuses, the men need to step forward, he said. “The principals, the gym teachers, even the college presidents have to be trained to work with young men and boys in order to make violence unacceptable.
“If you are a leader in the community, by definition you need to be knowledgeable, and you need to use your platform to talk about the issue.
“Silence is complicity, and Jews have suffered for eons while others have looked on. The concept is basic. We need good men to step up.”
For tickets, $25 each, call JWIC 416-630-9313.
