Michelle Peterson/Winonan

Community members and students joined up to hold a discussion and view the film premiere of “With Impunity: Men and Gender Violence.”

The event encouraged men to speak up against people who commit acts of violence. It pointed out that if no one speaks up, people assume everyone shares the same opinion. When someone challenges negative opinions about violence, people realize their opinions are not accepted.

The event had a turnout from the community with more than 50 people, but few college students attended, only one of them being male.

Senior Alicia Ward witnessed one peer’s opposition to the issue. During the film, a sexual assault advocate said it is more likely for women to be raped on college campuses than receive degrees.

After this statement, a man sitting near Ward said, “Did she really just say that?” As he got up to leave, Ward heard him say, “I’m done with this. This is ridiculous and biased.”

Ward said the man should have stayed until the end of the documentary to ask questions.

“Honestly, I couldn’t believe he just got up and stormed off,” Ward said.

Courtney McCaw, senior in the women’s and gender studies department, is a certified advocate through the Women’s Resource Center and is particularly interested in the cause.

“This statistic, sadly, is very true. If this young man were to poll his female friends, he would be faced with the difficult truth,” McCaw said.

McCaw explained how women are taught from childhood to prevent assault by being alert, not drinking, not walking alone at night and walking to the car with their keys in hand.

Statistics show one in three women in Minnesota report being sexually assaulted in their lifetime.

“Men often take these things for granted because they do not fear sexual assault,” McCaw said. “It is overwhelmingly valuable for young men to be exposed to things like this because awareness is the first step for creating social change.”

State legislator and film developer Michael Paymar said students need to be more active in creating organizations about these issues because of the high instances of rape and violence on college campuses.

“This needs to come organically from the school, not from an outside organization,” Paymar said.

Paymar explained that all men are involved in the problem in some way, and all men need to be involved in the solution, starting with speaking up against violence.

The film shifts the focus from teaching women not to get abused to teaching men not to abuse.

“If more men stood up, we would start to address this problem very differently,” Paymar said.

Martha Hernandez-Martinez designs and delivers programs about gender-based violence in the United States and Nicaragua.

Hernandez-Martinez explained how programs that focus on negative effects of men who act violently do not necessarily produce results. Programs that focus on positive results have more success.

Instead of showing badly abusive situations, programs should show men how to be role models and show them what they gain by changing, such as better relationships with family and friends, Hernandez-Martinez said.

Agencies in Winona, including the Women’s Resource Center and Beyond Tough Guise, have developed an action plan to eliminate violence in our community. Goals include strengthening individual knowledge and skills, promoting community education and influencing legislation.

Joe Morse, president of Beyond Tough Guise, said, “What we really need is for men to step up a little louder and let their voices be heard. Let men in the community know this is not accepted.”

Contact Michelle at [email protected]