Base agencies partner to bring awareness to problem of domestic violence

  • Published
  • By Susan M. Barone
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  As part of October's Domestic Violence Awareness Month, four Wright-Patterson Air Force Base agencies are partnering with the community to bring an inaugural workshop to the base on domestic violence, featuring motivational speaker Tony Porter. 

The sexual assault response, family advocacy , Federal Women's Programs and the Miami Valley Chapter of Federally Employed Women will sponsor "A Call to Men" from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Hope Hotel and Conference Center. 

But coordinators don't want the name to exclude others from attending the event that observes Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It's open to everyone. 

"Women and men, fathers, mothers, leaders, coaches, faith leaders, counselors, social workers and law enforcement are all part of the solution to ending violence against women," said Derry McCurdy, program manager of FWP at Aeronautical Systems Center. 

"The audience can expect a unique event that offers training, support and inspiration to create a meaningful cultural and social shift that no longer tolerates violence against women." 

McCurdy said audience members then "will belong to a group at the forefront of men's initiatives created to begin to end domestic, sexual and dating violence." 

"This presentation will focus on the responsibility of those Porter identifies as 'well-meaning men' to begin acknowledging the significant role male privilege and socialization has in violence against women," McCurdy said. 

Porter explains that "well-meaning men" are those who -- unknowingly or not -- have societal benefits and privileges simply by being men. He will explore the socialization of men and boys in how they value women with the hopes of changing attitudes in order to reduce violence against women, said Carmen Schott, outreach manager at Wright-Patterson's Family Advocacy Program. 

McCurdy emphasized that participants should know that Porter will not sugar-coat his words; he will use real stories and give a straight-forward talk. 

"Mr. Porter's work is informed by years of substance abuse treatment experience as well as consultation with leading feminist thinkers," McCurdy said. "He is passionate and committed to creating a fair and just world for his daughter and son to live in." 

"Mr. Porter is just an amazing motivational speaker, and he's dedicated his life to fighting violence against women and really changing men's views toward women and educating who he calls 'well-meaning men,'" Schott said. 

Often men are raised a certain way in society and see women in such a narrow way as less valued as men, which leads to them treating women improperly, she said. She said Porter wants to change that thinking to lead to women treated as equals. 

"It was a real test for him (growing up) and a lot of our young men, young teens, go through similar situations that a lot of parents aren't aware of in their young people's lives," said Schott. "And that's why he calls our "Call to Men" because he really wants to talk to men, boys and teens about the treatment of women. 

Schott said her supervisor, Joanne Austin, the family advocacy chief, had attended Porter's workshop. Austin said that Porter is very interactive and walks out into the crowd, asks questions and generally engages with audience members. 

"He will focus on a lot of deep, real issues," Schott said. 

"This is an incredible opportunity for education and awareness for the Wright-Patt community on an issue that affects us all," said Col. Colleen Ryan, 88th Air Base Wing commander. "I highly encourage Airmen -- military and civilian -- to take advantage of this free workshop that addresses the problem of domestic violence." 

The workshop organizers also said that parents of teenagers are encouraged to bring them along with the understanding that this is a mature subject with true stories that may include some street language. 

Simone Koram, sexual assault response coordinator, and Schott said they feel this event will be especially meaningful for those men and women who also are reintegrating into the community after returning from deployment and coming from a war environment where emotions run deep and stress levels are high. 

Koram said Porter is not unfamiliar with the military environment. Along with working with numerous domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions, colleges and universities around the country, he has also worked with the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. 

"Family advocacy's role for Domestic Violence Awareness Month is to create prevention programs and bring awareness of what domestic violence is and how it touches the military and the civilian world," Schott said. "So as far as the sexual assault response program and family advocacy, we have a dual role and a team effort on this with addressing this on the base, letting people know that domestic violence is real here at Wright-Patt and in the military community and the civilian side." 

"We're trying to invoke prevention here at Wright-Patterson," Koram said. "We're not saying we have a problem; what we're saying is that we're taking a proactive approach to prevent those problems from happenings. 

The deadline to register for this program is Oct. 1. To register or for more information, call 257-4608.