Stop The Violence: Men Walking Against Male Violence

There we sat, on a cold gym floor, in an all girl's school, waiting for a man to speak to us about an issue that has touched at least one out of ten of the girls in the room: violence against women. All of the girls stare at him as he approaches the podium. "I'd just like to tell you that it's not your fault". This was the beginning of what turned out to be an amazing speech by a humble man, Marc Brzutowski, about the abuse of women in our society.

Marc, who describes himself as "a nice guy", admitted to being just one of the guys- "telling the rape jokes and making the derogatory comments". The difference between him and others is that he decided, about five years ago, to take the initiative and change his views on women. A man named Ken Hancock challenged him to get involved in a project that he was working on at the time. They created Men Walking Against Male Violence, an organization which promotes and encourages men to help end all violence against women. "A lot of men meet us with denial and silence," says Ken, the walk coordinator. "The goal of the walks is to break through that silence, to talk about ending the many ways we are violent towards women."

Ken first had the idea of starting a walk for men against violence against women in 1991 "as a response to the massacre of fourteen women at the University of Montreal in 1989." He put together a written proposal and six months later the first of many such walks took place, beginning in Windsor and ending in Toronto. It has been going on every year since, and while organized by men, anyone is welcome to participate and show their support for abused women.

When asked if he feels differently now that he's more educated, Marc said, "If you had talked to me six years ago, I would have said, it's a problem. I wouldn't have really known how much of a problem it was, but I would have said it's not my problem. I would have said I'm not a violent person, I would have exempted myself from caring about this. One of the big changes that I've gone through is to really understand that even if I'm not part of this violence or that violence, at the very least I think I have an obligation to stand up and speak out against it, even if it doesn't directly effect me. If I believe that it is a basic, democratic, human right to be able to walk down the streets of your neighbourhood in safety, or that it's a basic human right to use the word no in a relationship and not be fearful of the response, if it's a basic human right to have a decent wage, a decent job and decent living conditions and if I have all those rights and I'm doing nothing to make sure that the people who don't have them get them, then I might as well be part of the violence."

"We have a tremendous amount of power and a power that can really stop this violence," explained Marc. "We're adding our voices to those of women who for centuries have, and to this day continue courageously to resist male violence in the home, in schools, in the churches, in the paid workplaces, in the hospitals, and in the shelters and crisis centers," said Ken.

If you want to start your own walks or want more information, you can contact Marc or Ken at (416) 536-0051 or (905)774-8091.