Men must step up to prevent gender violence, says expert

A public speaker who was in Regina Thursday to talk about gender violence says men who don't abuse women can play a huge role in stopping men who do.

JacksonKatzhas specialized in gender violence prevention for decades. Helooks beyond the perpetrators andvictims of violenceand holdseveryone accountable.

He spoke toCBC'sThe Morning Editionahead of a speech he gave atthe40thanniversary luncheon of theProvincial Association of Transition Houses of Saskatchewan

Gender violence: Amen's issue

Katz classifiesgender violence as amen's issue, He sayscalling it a women's issue isa "subtle form of victim blaming."

"We need all men who are in positions of influence to speak out on these issues," said Katz.

Your silence is a form of consent and complicity in his abuse.-Jackson Katz

From young to old, generations must beguided away from the common practiceof accepting casualgender violence, he said.

Education is key

This means teaching men who aren't abusers not to settle for being a bystander.

Katz said this can be assimple as teaching men to intervenewhen their peers crack"rape jokes" or spew discriminatory comments.

"If you don't say anything to challenge and interrupt him,then in a sense your silence is a form of consent and complicity in his abuse."

Additionally, men should end their misogynistic waysbecause the behaviour isunaccepted by society, not because it's punishable by authority, he said.

Katz called on people to challengetheir fellow men, be itco-workers ordrinking buddies,noting this can stop the culture of gender violence that enables abuse.

Preventing gender violence will be moreattainable ifsociety questions what is the norm, he said.

"The typical perpetrator of domestic violence or sexual assault in Saskatchewan or anywhere is not a sick monstrous man," Katz said, adding most offenders are people who are "much more normal."