Peace And Justice Of La Luz

Being a V-Man is recognizing that we men are privileged. This means that we men often claim the privilege of being the head of our households – that we men sometimes claim the privilege of making financial decisions at home.  We are aware that men can claim a higher status than women. We are aware that if we are white, we can claim undeserved privilege over other races.

As a V-Man, I know that we were raised this way.  Our fathers and even our mothers passed this on to us by modeling what their parents had modeled to them. We see it in movies and on the TV and in our daily lives – everywhere.  (more…)

by Tina Godby-Ware, RN Otero/Lincoln Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program

The goal of sexual health promotion is to foster healthy relationships and comfort with sexuality. It is based on the premise that adults who are comfortable with their sexuality and at ease with open discussion of sexual issues will create a family environment that supports healthy sexual behavior and responsible sexual choices. Healthy sexuality is based on respect, value, honesty, and joy.

But first, we must work diligently to challenge the institutions and practices that uphold male domination, the powerlessness of children, the turning of sexuality into a commodity, and the glorification of violence and exploration of fellow human beings. Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted. Only 83 percent of victims ever report this crime, with a large majority never telling anyone, allowing this silent epidemic to multiply and explode. The literature states that sexual violence is perhaps the most insidious manifestation of patriarchy, because it involves the corruption and distortion of that which is fundamental to our existence; our sexuality. (more…)

The fourth quarterly featured quest speakers at the Otero County NAACP business meeting were  Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE)  Tina Godby-Ware;  Otero County Sexual Assault Coordinator, Sandra Wilder, of the Counseling Center of Alamogordo;  and Detective Lt. Lee Wilder, Response Team Coordinator, of Alamogordo Department of Public Safety.  All are members of the  Sexual Assault Response Team  (SART) in New Mexico’s Twelfth Judicial District.

The coordinated sexual assault response team  is designed to ensure that victims are provided with a broad range of necessary care and services (legal, medical, social services) and to increase the likelihood that an assault can be successfully prosecuted. The SART team includes a nurse examiner, a sexual assault advocate, a prosecutor, and a law enforcement officer. All responding actors follow specific protocols that set out their responsibilities in treating and providing services sensitive to the needs of victims of sexual assault.

You can contact members of the response team at the following numbers:

Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner,  Tina Godby-Ware:  575 430-9485
Otero County Sexual Assault Coordinator, Sandra Wilder:  575 437-7404
Response Team Coordinator,  Detective Lt. Lee Wilder:  575 439-4300

. . . . .

The SART presentation was  followed by a showing of  “V-Day, Until the Violence Stops”. “V-Day” is an international movement to stop violence against women (and men).  An Alamogordo stage presentation of “The Vagina Monologues” is slated for February of 2010.  Men are encouraged to attend.

Michael Kimmel argues that it is in men’s interest to work for gender equality.

© New Internationalist

Over the past three generations, women’s lives have been utterly and completely transformed – in politics, the military, the workplace, professions and education. But during that time, the ideology of masculinity has remained relatively intact. The notions we have about what it means to be a man remain locked in a pattern set decades ago, when the world looked very different. The single greatest obstacle to women’s equality today remains the behaviour and attitudes of men.

In the mid-1970s, an American psychologist offered what he called the four basic rules of masculinity:

1. No Sissy Stuff. Masculinity is based on the relentless repudiation of the feminine.

2. Be a Big Wheel. Masculinity is measured by the size of your paycheck, and marked by wealth, power and status. As a US bumper sticker put it: ‘He who has the most toys when he dies, wins.’ (more…)