EVE BLOG

Our EVE BLOG items come from the United States today.

Where we’re making progress:

It’s usually EVE who denounce violence against us. But our calls for an end to domestic violence were recently joined by what may have been the first large, male-led event in America on this issue. On March 23rd a diverse group of men joined their voices in front of City Hall in Dallas, Texas (of all places) to pledge an end to domestic violence. One important reason this rally took place in Dallas was because Dallas Cowboys players used their celebrity to raise awareness.

They cited the grim reality that domestic violence leads to three American EVE being murdered every day by their partners and the majority of injuries to EVE 15-44 years of age in America every year. The rally of hundreds included men of many colors, many faiths, and many walks of life who took a five-point pledge to:

1. never hit a woman
2. speak out against abuse whenever they see it
3. hold other men accountable
4. teach their daughters to never accept abuse, and
5. teach their sons to respect women.

EVE around the world are becoming much more vocal and insistent on ending the scourge of domestic violence and the cultural attitudes that accept or deny it. So when men hold rallies and take pledges to end it we are definitely making progress. (1)

Where we’re losing ground:

It seems like a no-brainer, common sense approach to stopping sexual assault. It seems like a statement that would be hard to disagree with. But when Zerlina Maxwell (rape survivor, progressive African-American writer, and political analyst) told Sean Hannity on a March Fox news segment, “I don’t want men to be telling me what to wear, how to act, not to drink. And I don’t, honestly, want you to tell me that I needed a gun in order to prevent my rape” she instantly became a target of the bizarre blame-the-victim thinking that still rules in the Manplan.

That’s because “she had the nerve to suggest that rape is the responsibility of rapists, not their targets” and that instead of arming EVE with assault rifles we should change the culture that makes rape so pervasive in our country. For having the audacity to place the blame for rape on a violence-riddled society that still demeans EVE, Ms. Maxwell’s Facebook and Twitter accounts have been inundated with hundreds of people calling for her to be raped, killed, and more.

But she’s definitely right! EVE don’t need more guns – they need more respect! (2)

(1) Starita Smith, Ph.D., The Ledger, Lakeland, Florida, April 2, 2013
(2) http://www.alternet.org/gender/survivor-zerlina-maxwell-defies-racist-death-threats-after-speaking-out-fox-news