Jackson Katz, an internationally recognized educator on violence prevention among men and boys, asks why rape is a "women's issue" when over 99 percent of rapes are perpetrated by men.

Jackson Katz, an

internationally recognized educator on gender violence prevention among

men and boys, argues society must first transform how it thinks about

violence against women if it wants to prevent these acts from

reoccurring. "As a culture, Americans first must take the step in

acknowledging that violence against women is not a women’s issue, but a

men’s issue," Katz said.

"This is the foundation strategy for engaging young men and boys in

gender violence prevention," Katz told an audience of school

counselors, social workers, teachers, University of Iowa psychology students, social

workers, and community members at a forum in Iowa in April. "The first problem I have with labeling gender issues as women’s issues is that it gives men an excuse to not pay

attention. This is also the problem with calling them gender issues,

because the majority of the people in the status quo see gender issues

as women’s issues."

Katz is an educator, author and filmmaker and has been long recognized

as one of America’s leading anti-sexist male activists, in particular

in the sports and military cultures. In 1993 he conceived and

co-founded the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Program at Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society.

The multiracial, mixed-gender MVP program was the first large-scale

attempt to enlist high school, collegiate and professional athletes in

the fight against all forms of men’s violence against women. Today MVP

is the most widely utilized gender violence prevention program in

college and professional athletics.

Drawing upon his most recent book, "The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men

Hurt Women and How All Can Help," Katz shared some strategies with the

audience, providing them with what he hoped was a foundation they could

build upon in their professional and private lives. "My goal here today

is to give you some concrete strategies on how to approach issues

regarding violence against women and prevent gender-violence issues

among men and young boys."

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Katz spent a significant portion of the session driving home his first

strategy and why a paradigm shift in thinking is imperative to the

prevention of gender violence. At the root of the problem is language

and how, historically, language has helped cement and legitimize how

people view gender violence.

Katz used race and gender to illustrate how, over time, language has

helped perpetuate and maintain the dominant culture’s dominance. "In

the United States, when we hear the word `race,’ people generally think

of African Americans," Katz said. "When people hear `sexual

orientation,’ they tend to think that means homosexual, gay, or

lesbian. When people hear `gender,’ they think of women."

"In each, the dominate culture is left out of the equation. This is one

way that dominant systems maintain themselves in that they are rarely

challenged to think about their own dominance," Katz said. "This is one

of the key characteristics of power and privilege and why the dominant

culture has ability to go unexamined and remain invisible."

Katz admits this is one of the key challenges he faces when working

with men, the dominant group in our society. Katz reminds the audience

that his focus is on men. "I hope nobody in this room is under the

delusion that this is sexist," Katz said. "I know women have made great

historical strides in recent history, but when we talk about the

dominant group in our society, we are talking about men. I’m also aware

that members of dominant groups have been strong supporters of

subordinate groups, but let’s not be naïve, for there have been members

of dominant groups who have resisted reform and responsibility."