New Statewide Public Awareness Campaign Calls on Men as Allies to Prevent Domestic Violence

The campaign features members of Ten Men, a statewide prevention initiative of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

WARWICK, R.I., June 13, 2019 - This June, the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence (RICADV) launched a new statewide public awareness campaign that calls on men in our communities to help prevent domestic violence. The campaign features members of Ten Men, a statewide prevention initiative of the RICADV funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s DELTA Impact grant. The campaign arrives just in time for Father’s Day, calling men in to think about the role they have to play in creating a peaceful world for future generations.

“As men, we have an affirmative responsibility to address the issue of intimate partner violence head on,” Jim Berson said, a nonprofit consultant who has lived in Rhode Island for over 30 years and is a member of Ten Men. “If we are going to build a community that is healthy and equitable for all, we must break the intergenerational cycle of violence. We owe this to our daughters and sons, our sisters and brothers, our partners and our parents.”

For the last 16 years, the RICADV has been conducting leading-edge work in domestic violence primary prevention with support from the CDC, and as one of ten DELTA Impact grantees in the country, is a national leader in the efforts to prevent domestic violence through men’s engagement. Based on the best available evidence for what works to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV),1 engaging men and boys as allies in prevention is a promising approach. According to the CDC, strategies to engage men and boys as allies not only encourage men and boys to support victims by intervening and speaking out, but also teach skills and promote positive social norms.

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