April 22, 2009 — When men from all walks of life and professions answered the call in "A Call to Men, Men and Women Working Together to End Violence" workshop Wednesday, they heard hard-hitting statistics and facts about violence and abuse.
The workshop, sponsored by the V.I. Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Council (DVSAC), was attended by close to 100 men and women. The majority of them were men with a stake in curbing violence. In attendance were officers from the V.I. Police Department, V.I. National Guard, U.S. Attorney's Office, Bureau of Corrections, Legal Services, Superior Court marshals, Department of Human Services and Lutheran Social Services.
The morning began with a rousing panel discussion on violence and abuse that included Clema Lewis, co-director of the Women's Coalition; Sen. Samuel Sanes; Sgt. Deborah Jack of the VIPD; and Carnell Troutman, director of the Men's Coalition.
"I'm tried of fighting the battle side by side with women," Lewis said. "Men need to step up to the plate and be part of the solution. I want to hear a man say, 'No one has the right to rape a woman.' We need to talk about reality and what we need to do in the community."
Last year the Women's Coalition helped 8,000 clients on St. Croix, she said.
"Let's talk about us — women who sleep with anybody in front of our children," Lewis said. "Are we setting an example selling our daughters for rent and clothes? They do what they see you do. These are the people I see on a daily basis."
Sanes got a round of applause when he said he thought abuse could begin with people clapping and cheering little girls on for inappropriately gyrating their hips and pumping it up in the children's parade at festival.
William McCoy of Columbus, Ohio, led "Engendering Respect," a workshop that took on issues of gender and power. This interactive workshop included participants partnering with the person next to them to discuss thoughts and feelings about a role-playing scene with a father (played by McCoy) yelling, berating and hitting his son for poor grades. He went around the room at Carambola Resort and asked attendees how they felt about what transpired. They said they were hurt, stunned, confused, sad, vexed, angry and disappointed. He had participants close their eyes and hearken back to the age of 10. Then dialogue began, with members of DVSAC yelling ugly words of blame, anger, criticism and hate.
"This helped to open my eyes to what kids go through by looking from the outside in," said VIPD police officer Reginald Pedro.
Lynn Spencer, executive director of DVSAC, called for a broad effort to combat abuse.
"The abuse issues we have are community issues, and we have to get everyone involved in the community," she said. "We need to work on policies and work with agencies in the criminal justice system. We are looking for partners and agencies in the community."
All the agencies are linked together, she said, adding, "Keep open minds and think about what you can do."
Lt. Gov. Gregory Francis told those in attendance to set an example for children, because they learn from what adults do.
"Be positive role models — the change has to start early," Francis said. "Men are the traditional leaders of the family. This seems like a difficult challenge, but every journey begins with a single step."
Francis presented Lewis with the 2009 Visionary Voice Award, a national award for fighting sexual assault.
Judy Fricks, Crime Stoppers chairwoman, gave a presentation on her organization and discussed how individuals can submit anonymous tips on crimes and get paid for tips leading to a conviction.
The mission of DVSAC is to coordinate education, prevention and response efforts to reduce domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence, and make these crimes socially and culturally unacceptable. The conference was funded by 2007-08 U.S. Department of Justice grants to state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions.
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