June 2015
3 Downtown Events Push Prevention of Rape and Battering
Men Urged to Participate on June 25 

Events aimed at awareness and prevention of rape and domestic violence will target men next week when the Memphis Sexual Assault Kit Task Force and the Memphis Area Women's Council launch the Memphis Says NO MORE Campaign.

First, a Community Conversation for men and men's groups will begin at 3 p.m. with a performance by the MPD Peacemakers in the Sultana Room of the Cannon Center. Memphis Mayor AC Wharton, who appointed the task force in December 2013, will open the Conversation at 3:30 p.m. and task force coordinator Doug McGowen from the Mayor's Innovation Delivery Team will describe the progress of testing and investigating the rape kit backlog and other reforms in response to the 12,000-plus stored forensic kits locally.

Shelby County Judicial Commissioner Kevin Reed will frame the discussion of how men can and must engage with women activists in ending domestic violence and rape. Reed will moderate a panel including Rabbi Micah Greenstein; Plough Foundation executive Director Mike Carpenter; Pastor Rolando Rostro of Iglesia Nueva Vida and rape survivor Anne Kenworthy during a dialog with audience members.



Following the discussion, at 5 p.m. participants will join other men and women in the fifth annual Memphis Walk a Mile in Her Shoes from the Cannon Center, down the Main Street Mall to Beale Street. The Walk, an international initiative led locally by the Memphis Area Women's Council, is an opportunity for men to show their unity with women and their concern for ending violence against women and providing support services for victims/survivors.

Mike Carpenter, who co-chaired the first Memphis Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, Mayor Wharton, Atty; Gen. Amy Weirich and other leaders will head the 2015 Walk.

Register online at www.memphissaysNOMORE.com or at the Cannon Center. Some shoes will be available and men are encouraged to bring women's shoes to wear in the Walk or to share in in a "relay" down the Mall.

Members of the Memphis Area Women's Council, Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Kappa Gamma will host registration tables and hospitality stations along the Walk.

It will terminate on Beale at the FedEx Forum Plaza where the Memphis Says NO MORE campaign will be launched at 6 p.m.

Wharton and others will unveil public service announcements, posters and website resources to help the community end domestic violence and sexual assault and get services to victims/survivors. The new awareness and prevention campaign is organized by the task force with funding from a local donor and coordinated by Deborah Clubb, executive director or the Women's Council. Fourteen local company leaders and victims/survivors add their voices and faces to the campaign which localizes the compelling messages and look of the national NO MORE campaign led by the Joyful Heart Foundation.

Memphis Says NO MORE is one of a few local campaigns using these messages and approach to raise public awareness and engage bystanders around ending domestic violence and sexual assault/rape.

"Silence perpetuates these crimes. It happens so often that violence becomes normal and accepted, " Clubb said. "Memphis Says NO MORE aims to help people recognize signs of abuse and feel comfortable discussing it openly so each of us can become equipped to help any who need help. All of us - women and men - must stop standing by as this violence goes on and on."

The Memphis Says NO MORE symbol used the national signature blue "zero" - as in zero incidences of domestic violence and sexual assault - and added distinctive multiple rings of a vinyl album, referencing our musical heritage. 

Leadership in the Memphis Says NO MORE campaign is a continuation of the Women's Council's ongoing awareness and system change advocacy initiatives, from the Erase Domestic Crime Collaborative that organized large annual public events working with community partners to the current workshops for employers and workplaces called "Victims at Home. Violence at Work. Employers Confront Domestic Violence." To plan a workshop for your company or agency, email dclubb@memphiswomen.org.

 

 

 

Issue: 16
In This Issue



About Memphis Area Women's Council
 
The Memphis Area Women's Council is a non-profit dedicated to advocacy to assure equity and opportunity for local women and girls. Our goal is strategic changes in policy, procedure, law and regulations that remove barriers, eliminate sexism and assure equal access.  For more information or to donate go to
visit
memphiswomen.org or contact Deborah Clubb at 901-378-3866 or dclubb@memphiswomen.org.

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