Many men on campus are joining the fight to stop sexual assault and sexual violence, and one of the largest forces behind this movement is the University Men’s Center.
Counseling Center Psychologist Jon Davies, who helped found the Men’s Center, said that men perpetrate more than 90 percent of sexual assaults.
“Men need to step up and take responsibility and help reduce the number of occurrences.” Davies said. “When we don’t speak up and speak out against (sexual assault and sexual violence), we let (the male abusers) speak for us. Those are the actions that speak the loudest.”
Many men are going to be showing their support for ending sexual violence by participating in the White Ribbon Campaign.
Wearing white ribbons is part of the Men’s Center’s goal of becoming more visible on campus, the center’s director, Dave Miller, said, adding that the group has only been around for two years.
Davies said the idea for the group came out of several informal meetings between members of different campus organizations to discuss concerns of men’s physical and mental health.
Davies said while more than 90 percent of conduct problems reported to the University are caused by men, the majority of people discussing problems with the University Counseling and Testing Center are female.
The group decided to conduct a survey with male students addressing their health concerns, barriers to health care and advice to improve accessibility for men. Davies said the group learned that men have many health concerns — including stress management, body image, depression and suicide — but they don’t usually seek help for their problems.
Davies attributes the problem to “the way they were socialized” and the idea that men should be independent. He added that social pressure keeps men from seeking help.
The overwhelming suggestion from the survey participants was that a center should be created for open discussion of these issues.
“(The goal of the Men’s Center is) to normalize the idea that men do have health concerns and they’re worth paying attention to,” Davies said.
Miller said the group provides workshops on stress management, exercise and nutrition, and alcohol and other drugs. The group endorsed and sponsored a Roe v. Wade celebration party. Other activities will include a showing of a film series and a continuing discussion group called Myths of Masculinity.
However, Miller said many people question the need and purpose of a men’s center.
“There is inequality and men are seen to have all of this social power,” he said. “Why do we want to have a center for these people who enjoy the most power and privilege in our society? It’s a really legitimate question.”
Miller said one of the purposes of the Men’s Center is to look at how the power of men affects society.
“If we want equality, we have to work on ourselves, too,” he said.
One of the organizations that is supportive of the center’s work in fighting against sexual assault and sexual violence is Stop Abuse for Everyone. SAFE is an organization that strives to provide sexual assault and sexual violence resources to those who are typically left behind by traditional abuse programs.
SAFE founder and University graduate Jade Rubick said he’s glad to see that the Men’s Center provides services for men in abusive relationships, but he would rather see an on-campus organization that is all-encompassing and serves everyone who suffers from abuse.
“We applaud the efforts of anyone fighting against domestic violence,” Rubick said. “We also applaud the work of people trying to advocate for abused men.”
Miller said he hopes the Men’s Center will grow in the future.
“I would like to see it expand, and I would like to see people be able to walk in and crash like they do at the ASUO Women’s Center,” Miller said. “We need to work on getting a bigger space, getting more people involved and more funding,”
He added that the group is currently funded through the counseling center and the ASUO.
One problem the group faces is getting men to accept the Men’s Center and use its services, Miller said.
He said a majority of men fall into two groups. The first is men who feel too self-aware and question the idea of having a center for men when men are causing the problems for most people. The second group of men think the idea of a men’s center is “stupid” and that all the men do is sit around and “hug each other.”
“I hope that people continue to give it a chance and are willing to give it a chance,” Miller said. “I’d like to see more men come in and use our services.”