Men's Nonviolence
Project pursues safety and
justice for women, works to hold
men accountable for their
violence and abuse, and strives
to eradicate the sexism from
which violence against women
grows.
Men's Nonviolence
Project Efforts
The Men's Nonviolence Project (MNP)
was formerly known as the
Battering Intervention and
Prevention Project (BIPP). In
early 2000, BIPP was
reconceptualized as the Men's
Nonviolence Project. As BIPP,
our primary activities were
centered on service provision,
that is, technical assistance,
training and monitoring the
local programs that worked with
batterers.
MNP still offers these services,
but has widened its view to
encompass the understanding that
intervention groups for
identified domestic violence
offenders by themselves will
never stop violence against
women. In our first several
years, we have made a good start
on the work of addressing the
social problem of men's
violence. Here are some of our
accomplishments:
Red Crowley, from the
nationally prominent
activist group Men Stopping
Violence serves as
consultant for TCFV's Men's
Nonviolence Project (March
2000)
Held the first Forum on
Men's Work to End Violence
Against Women (April 2000)
Conducted focus groups to
refine a multi-pronged
community awareness campaign
directed at men (September
2000)
Held the Second Annual Forum
on Men's Work to End
Violence Against Women
(April 2001)
Produced and distributed the
statewide education video
"Circle of Accountability"
(June 2001)
Launched the Men Make
Choices/Hombres de Verdad
Escogen community awareness
and action campaign
(September 2001)
Held a statewide organizing
meeting entitled "Building a
Men's Movement" (November
2001)
Completed the Spanish dubbed
version of the video Circle
of Accountability (December
2001)
Hosted TCFV's first training
completely in Spanish -
Masculinidad y Violencia
(Masculinity and Violence)
with two presenters from the
Nicaraguan men's group - La
Asociacion de Hombres Contra
la Violencia (January 2002)
Held 3rd Annual Forum on
Men's Work to End Violence
Against Women (March 2002)
Oswaldo Montoya of the
Nicaraguan men's group La
Asociación de Hombres Contra
la Violencia participated in
our 21st Annual Statewide
Family Violence Conference
and delivered a keynote
speech and a workshop.
(October 2002)
Held a second statewide
organizing meeting "Building
a Men's Movement" for men
and women activists working
to end men's violence
against women. (November
2002)
Men's Nonviolence Project
Specialist, Eduardo Montiel,
visited Nicaraguan men's
group (La Associacion de
Hombre Contra la Violencia)
to learn from their popular
education, community
organizing and anti-violence
work. (August 2003)
Held the third statewide
organizing meeting, "Stand
Up, Stand Out", for men and
women activists working to
end men's violence against
women. (December 2003)
Program Development:
Currently, BIPP groups are the
main non-criminal justice effort
to confront men's violence.
Therefore, MNP works to support
and enhance efforts being made
by these programs, individuals
and their communities as they
hold identified batterers
accountable for their violence.
MNP will:
· Provide support, training and
technical assistance to programs
working with family violence
perpetrators.
· Promote adherence to the State
Guidelines.
· Monitor the Texas BIPPs, which
currently receive state funding.
Social Change:
Men's violence against women
will not end as a result of the
work being done in BIPP groups
alone. The number of batterers
is too large and our resources
are too limited. What will be
required is a social change
movement that will address the
root causes of men's violence
against women. Therefore, MNP
recognizes the need to
facilitate, support, and in some
cases catalyze efforts to raise
awareness, educate, and organize
for social change. MNP will:
· Facilitate and support
community organizing efforts
throughout the state. Community
organizing involves individuals
from a community coming together
to find solutions to address
their issues.
· Produce and distribute
materials that will support
local community organizing
efforts.
· Provide training and technical
assistance opportunities to
support local community
organizing efforts.
Education and Networking
While BIPP groups by themselves
are insufficient to end violence
against women, they play an
important role. BIPP
practitioners require support
networks to enhance their
ability to provide effective
services. Therefore, MNP will
create educational and
networking opportunities in
support of strong BIPP programs
such as:
· Organize statewide conferences
and other means of communication
among service providers and
activist groups working to end
men's violence against women.
· Organize regional conferences
and encourage ongoing
associations of service
providers and activist groups
working to end men's violence.
· Facilitate networking among
those working with batterers.
Research/Evaluation/Demonstration
Projects
Ending men's violence will
require new strategies and new
methods. Established
methods-such as BIPPs-will
continually have to examine and
update their techniques.
Therefore, MNP will follow and
disseminate trends in research;
participate in efforts to
evaluate practice; and incubate
new ideas for use by TCFV and
others. MNP will:
· Encourage research on models
and formats of working with men
who batter..
· Participate in the evaluation
of methods of organizing and
educating for an end to men's
violence against women.
· Explore TCFV's participation
in research and demonstration
projects designed to end men's
violence against women.
Systems Change
The institutions of our society
often provide systemic support
for men's violence against
women. For change to come to
these institutions people
individually and collectively
must strategize, plan, and
ultimately act to address
institutional responses for
holding men accountable and
enhancing safety and justice for
survivors.
· Initiate and support systems
change efforts through training
and technical assistance.
· Initiate and support public
policy and legislative efforts
which hold men accountable for
their violence and enhance
safety and justice for women.
· Assist BIPPs in building
collaborative relationships with
local institutions.
Men Make Choices/Hombres
de Verdad Escogen Campaign
In October, 2001, TCFV launched
the Men Make Choices/Hombres de
Verdad Escogen community
awareness and action campaign,
designed to educate the public
about domestic violence. For the
first
time in Texas, a domestic
violence campaign asks men to be
accountable for domestic
violence and to hold other men
accountable for their behavior.
The Men Make Choices/Hombres de
Verdad Escogen campaign resulted
from efforts by TCFV to target
not only men who batter, but
also those who witness abuse
within a relationship.
In order to create the campaign,
TCFV, in conjunction with
Austin-based Orchard
Communications, Inc., conducted
focus groups with men in San
Antonio, El Paso, McAllen,
Houston and Tyler. Participants
were asked about their knowledge
and opinions about domestic
violence and asked to view
proposed materials.
The vast majority of respondents
said that men need to be more
aware of the consequences of
their violent behavior. This led
to the creation of a poster
campaign depicting a man in
handcuffs that reads,
"Domestic violence is a crime."
An accompanying brochure details
different forms of abuse and
shows the potential of a woman
leaving the relationship,
emotionally damaged children,
and possible jail time.
In addition to printed
materials, a public service
announcement was created for
radio play. All materials in the
Men make Choices/Hombres de
Verdad Escogen campaign are
available in English and
Spanish: Palm Card (English),
Palm Card (Spanish), Poster
(English), Poster (Spanish).
Click here
to purchase any "Men
Make Choices/Hombres de Verdad"
materials.
The campaign was tested in the
spring of 2001 in Tyler, San
Antonio and El Paso. All the
materials invited men to call a
local Battering intervention and
Prevention Program for help in
stopping their abuse. Usually,
men enroll in these programs as
part of a court-ordered
sentence after domestic violence
arrests. Results of the pilot
test showed that voluntary calls
to the battering intervention
programs doubled.
All materials have been mass
produced with kits and order
forms distributed to domestic
violence programs throughout the
state. The brochures, posters
and PSAs are free of cost to
programs in Texas. If you have
any questions about this
campaign, please call Eduardo
Montiel, Men’s Nonviolence
Project Specialist, at
512/794-1133.
The Men's Nonviolence Project
also developed Circle of
Accountability (Working Together
to Hold Batterers Responsible).
Circle of Accountability is a
17.5-minute video production
that gives information about
abuse and domestic violence
through the voices of law
enforcement professionals,
batterers and a former victim.
The behaviors described are
illustrated by a series of slow
motion or still photographs of a
man abusing a woman (and
therefore may be disturbing to
young audiences). To purchase
Circle of Accountabity, or any
other TCFV materials, please
visit the TCFV
Materials
and Resources web
section.
