Men in Central Alberta can help stop violence against women by joining Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter’s White Ribbon campaign.
The campaign kickoff will be held at Breakfast with the Guys on Nov. 28. at the Red Deer Golf and Country Club, with guest speaker American Jackson Katz, who is recognized in the field of domestic violence and engaging men and boys to end the violence against women.
“We’re hoping men who care about this, that men who have daughters, sisters, mothers and wives will come out and say it’s time to step up to the plate and take a stand,” said CAWES executive director Ian Wheeliker on Monday about the breakfast sponsored by CAWES and SafeTracks GPS Solutions.
Tickets are $100 each and are on sale on the CAWES website — www.cawes.com.
“It’s not just for men. The idea is to engage men in the issue and work shoulder to shoulder with women to end violence against women and children.”
Wheeliker said Alberta has not focused very much on the White Ribbon campaign developed by men after the 1989 murder of 14 women at the Polytechnique Institute in Montreal.
Last year, 506 women and children used the Red Deer emergency shelter. This year as of the end of October, 437 women and children have used the shelter and the number is projected to climb to about 520 by the end of the year.
He said the biggest trend that front line agencies have seen this year is the increasing complexity of domestic violence cases with more risk issues, more child custody issues and even more defensive violence by the victim.
“Women who know it’s escalating towards a violent episode will actually instigate the violence in some way or another. It gives them some predictability in the relationship. Rather than walk around on egg shells like you’re walking through a minefield, the victim actually initiates the violence to get it going and get it over with.
“They know the cycle. After the violent episode, things tend to get a little better for a short period of time.”
November is Family Violence Prevention Month in Alberta and on Friday CAWES is also hosting What a Girl Wants, its fifth annual ladies breakfast and fashion show at Bower Place Shopping Centre, from 7 to 9:30 a.m.
A four-hour workshop, featuring Katz, will be held on Nov. 28 Red Deer Golf and Country Club after Breakfast with the Guys.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com