Did you know that one in four women experience violence before they are 24 years old? This is one of the reasons the Campus Awareness for Relationship Education (CARE) peer educators are bringing Tony Porter, a nationally recognized educator, public speaker and activist, to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus.
Porter’s presentation “Love Shouldn’t Hurt” is taking place at 7 p.m. in Reeve Memorial Union ballroom Tuesday, Feb. 15. His presentation is to empower students to make efforts in ending men’s violence against women. The event is free to all students with a Titan I.D. and general admission is $2.
“CARE and MenCARE are bringing Tony to campus to help students prevent dating and sexual violence,” said Shelly Rutz, CARE advisor and counseling center outreach coordinator. “CARE wants to focus their efforts on having everyone be able to see dating violence.”
During Porter’s presentation, the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions and pick up information about relationship violence from the CARE resource table. There also will be a call for men to join the efforts in ending men’s violence against women from the campus community.
Throughout Porter’s international and national efforts, he has worked with numerous domestic and sexual violence and professional athletic associations, including the NFL and NBA. Porter also is an international lecturer for the U.S. State Department having worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“Tony challenges male stereotypes of what it means to be a ‘man’ and wants to empower students, especially male students, to let them know they can do something about violence against women and that it is OK to express concern or get help if it happens to them,” Rutz said.
Rutz also said that when observing verbal or physical violence between individuals, women often interpret a man’s silence as supporting the man’s behaviors but this is actually not the case. Men know the situation is not acceptable but don’t know what to do or how to act.
“I think it is important for us to continue to break the silence and identify violence,” Rutz said. “Porter will teach students their rights in a relationship and help women understand what respect looks like.”
- To get involved in UW Oshkosh’s CARE peer educators or request a CARE/MenCARE presentation, e-mail care@uwosh.edu.
- If you or someone you know is experiencing violence contact Megan Eck, victim advocate for UW Oshkosh Counseling Center.
- For more information about the UW Oshkosh Counseling Center, visit http://www.uwosh.edu/couns_center/ or call (920) 424-2061.