Representatives of the Colorado Men Against Domestic Violence Campaign

Lately the media has been full of stories of men behaving harmfully within institutes of power, privilege, and prestige.  While each of these incidents is deplorable, what we fail to shed light on is the cultural construct and social structure in which they occur. In each, there is a sub-story of good men who failed to act.

While it is easy to point the finger at “bad men” who commit violent crimes, prey on the innocent, and abuse their positions of power we don’t pay much attention to those men on the sidelines that remain silent and fail to take a stand in the face of such violence. Men who are not the offenders or perpetrators themselves, but none-the-less continue to support a power structure in which these behaviors are permitted, tolerated, and excused. Perhaps you have even been this man, turning a blind eye to another man’s display of violence, harassment, bullying, or prejudice towards women, children, or other men.

The truth is all of us men have failed at times to do the right thing. We can all recount incidents when we gave in to peer pressure or we minimized the unearned status we are given as men and ignored our responsibility to take action.  We have opportunities every day to address issues of oppression on a personal level and a wider social level, but often we don’t say or do anything. If we aren’t the one abusing others, isn’t that enough?  It’s a good start, but it’s not enough – not while people are being hurt.

This is the root of the problem — our failure to confront other men or to reflect upon our own lives and how we personally support a culture of violence and male privilege.  These are not easy topics, but as men we must work together to overcome bystander inaction. We must empower and support each other to challenge the status quo of masculine culture and become allies in the movement to end all forms of violence. Colorado Men Against Domestic Violence was formed with the vision of creating the largest statewide community of men in the nation who work to prevent domestic violence and promote healthy relationships. More than 800 men and women have signed our online pledge to no longer tolerate domestic violence and sexual assault.

Please take a moment to sign the pledge at www.ColoradoMenAgainstDV.com. Here, you will find tools and tips to help take a stand against violence and overcome the bystander effect. CMADV strives to empower men and to draw out their inherent good. And while violence is not perpetrated exclusively by men, there is a lot we as men can do to be more proactive.

The Colorado Men Against Domestic Violence (CMADV) campaign is led by  fatherhood, human services, and domestic violence advocates statewide and is committed to building a community of men that no longer tolerate domestic violence through a variety of outreach initiatives. The chair of this campaign, Tyler Osterhaus, can be reached at osterhtj@co.weld.co.us.