MISSION:
The Cleveland area Men’s Violence Prevention Task Force seeks to engage and involve boys and men in violence prevention and encourage them to take a leadership role through education, public dialogue, and community organization/coordination.
HISTORY:
The Cleveland area Men’s Violence Prevention Task Force (MVPTF), a unifying organization concerned with many aspects of masculinity and the role of men in society, works to involve and engage boys and men in violence prevention and encourages them to take leadership roles through education, public dialogue, and cultural intervention.
The formation of the Men’s Violence Prevention Task Force would not have come about without a visit to the Case Western Reserve University campus by former professional athlete Don McPherson. Don’s visit, sponsored by the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women as part of the Center’s annual Project on Men & Gender, included workshops with Case’s Interfraternity Congress and male athletes about the links between gender-based violence and masculinity. Don also hosted a working brunch with members of community organizations and individuals interested in issues of men’s violence prevention. It was from this well-attended brunch that the need to create a mechanism for continued collaboration among those working in this field became apparent.
Prior to the formation of the MVPTF, numerous organizations throughout the Cleveland community worked independently on issues relating to the prevention of men’s violence. The MVPTF, with membership including representatives from various social service agencies, such as the Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Centers, Planned Parenthood, Jewish Family Services, the Healthy Fathering Collaborative, and the Men’s Action Network, as well as representatives from local universities and government offices, now supports a network that encompasses all aspects of men’s violence prevention, from domestic violence prevention to fathering skills.
Since its formation, the Task Force has participated on preexisting committees such as the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council and the Coalition Against Violence and Neglect; co-sponsored the past three years of the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women's Project on Men & Gender (Case Wetsern Reserve University); co-sponsored a conference entitled “Mentoring Boys into Menâ€; offered support to John Carroll University following a rash of campus sexual assaults; and addressed the Promise Keepers by passing out flyers at their 2005 conference held at the Gund Arena. The MVPTF hosted it's first solo event, a film screening of "Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes" followed by a lively panels discussion, in June (see blog).
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