UNITED STATES
Joyful Heart Foundation
[with video]
I was telling a friend recently about my emotional reaction the first time I heard the Joyful Heart Foundation’s PSA that talks about about engaging men to “end violence against all people, men women and children.”
I explained that the words “…men, women and children,” brought tears to my eyes, because in my nearly 25 years working in the field of child protection, sexual and domestic violence intervention, I’d never heard anyone else talk so directly about ending violence against men.
As one of the 19 million adult men in the United States who experienced childhood sexual abuse myself, I’m well-acquainted with the impact that that trauma had on my growth and development. I find the choice to include men, as being worthy of protection from violence, profoundly validating.
My friend, a man I deeply respect for his years working tirelessly as an activist in the movement to engage men in ending violence against women and children, seemed shocked by the phrase. “Did they actually say it like that…’men, women and children,” he asked. “I could never say that.”
How unfortunate!
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