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TI1E HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday November Page Features- for Change Conference Various initiatives discussed regarding sexual assault By ELIZABETH GALVIN The Herald Space for Fridays Reaching or Change conference filled so quickly waiting list had to be made up The popularity of the program held at the Howard Johnson Hotel in Oakville may have had something to do with the panel of speakers that was scheduled for the morning ses sion They discussed various in itiatives regarding sexual assault that are underway or planned for Halton Region The panel included Bob Alex ander a founding member of Metro Men Against Violence Paul Bennet executive director of the Halton Sexual Abuse Pro gram Donna a coun cillor at Core Family Services Linda Grear human resources consultant for Canada and Sue Amos coordinator of physical education and health for the Board of Education All five panel guests were con tacted by phone before the con ference at which time they discussed their planned tions for Fridays meeting Metro Men Against Violence Since starting the Toronto- based group two and a half years ago MMAV has decided to commit themselves to working towards ending male violence especially against women ex plained Bob Alexander We dont all rape we dont all kill he said but we are part of a society that fosters violence and it fosters misogyny In his allotted time on Friday he will put forth the argument that its time men acknowledge that were all part of a violent society and we have a to do something about it This conference could very well be the comingout event for the group that has up until now re mained fairly low profile The monthly meetings usually attract a crowd of about 15 men and the groups mailing list is up to about 90 people We have spent a fair amount of time educating ourselves ad mitted Mr Alexander Over the last few months group members have been doing speaking engagements at halfway houses and even a summer camp They participated in a peace march in Toronto in the belief that their message fit In said Mr Alex Right now the group is busy developing educational pro grams and media strategy At a recent workshop at a bat tered womens shelter in Toronto Mr Alexander learned even more It is this knowledge together with what he has learn from other research that he will take with hini to Friday s conference Male violence affects other men too he said referring to bar room brawls and street fights Hart of the reality is Ihat men have to start titking it We in a society here men have power and that leads to situations where we take control over other people this hurts us as well he said To contact Bob Alexander tall in Toronto Abuse Program Our program deals with child sexual abuse not rape said Paul pointing out that one out of three and one out of five males has experienced some sort of sexual abuse by men He feels that the rapidly rowing gap is due to the fact Ihjl males did not report the crime in the past and arc only now star ting to Mr estimates lhat 30000 adults in have been sexually abused and that 1 children are abused every year in the region Statistically everyone has someone in their church or on their street who is or was abused he concluded What really concerns him however is that the issue may be going back into the closet after years of media attention convinc so many survivors to reach out for help For the first time years there has been a decrease in reports in Halton Mr said Its not that kids are more educated Not enough is being done at the preventative level he concluded Its fading from the communi tys consciousness and being overshadowed by drug abuse and AIDS he speculated Not only is that terrible its frightening We cant afford to go back 10 years where child sexual abuse is shrouded in secrecy So the Halton Sexual Abuse Program will continue to offer counselling for child and cent victims adolescent of fenders and adult and offenders as well as support groups for mothers of child and adolescent victims Their hours are Monday to Friday from am to p m and the phone SEXUAL ASSAULT SOME FACTS Sexual assault is a violent crime a sexual act not Females of all ages are sexually assaulted The youngest victim on records was two weeks the oldest years Women are singled out as victims of sexual assault because they happen to be available at the time and they are vulnerable Attractiveness and style of dress have nothing to do with the selection of a victim I in 5 women are likely to be sexually assaulted at some time in their lives Between 60 and per cent of sexual assaults are never reported 60 per cent of sexual assaults are planned A woman is just as likely to be attacked in her own home by an acquaintance as on a dark street by a stranger A sexual assault can be both a physically and emotionally scarring experience for a woman The Club of Georgetown Presents THEATRE RESTAURANTS NIGHT Our 3rd Annual Stage West Dinner Theatre Event Presenting SEASONS GREETINGS Friday Nov 630 pm For more information or to order tickets call Melanie McCracken 8775155 Tickets are per person number is 8253242 Core Family Services Donna Gannon who deals with domestic violence daily as a councillor at Core Services is also concerned that society has forgotten about child sexual abuse feel this region has gone to sleep about this issue she said Although there is more repor ting changes and services ac cording to the statistics were not getting the current child abuse victims She knows what the demand for some of the services her group of including a self help group for men called ReVisions should be like Were not physically serving very well she admits Its impossible with an office Burlington The trip to Core Family Ser vices may well be worth it for a person though a wide range issues is dealt with at the centre They have a child sexual abuse program in place but that said Ms Gannon Is not their primary function They deal with violence women through the Re- Visions program which involves one to one therapy for both abusers and the abused A self help group for men who have come through the program and are committed to change is also available The centre deals with women who are abused men who are abusers children who are sur vivors adolescents who are from violent homes or who are in violent dating situations and elderly abused women We are looking to do more col laborative work in the future said Ms Gannon with area agencies and specific topic agen cies Core Family Services is located at 2289 Street in Burlington The phone number 6375256 Dupont Canada Linda Grear has been invited to the panel to talk about certain progressive initiatives that offers its employees The first is an eighthour workshop for women only about rape prevention the myths and facts about rape and after care The second program is a four- hour workshop for managers and supervisors designed to give a clear understanding of what sex- ConlinuedonPage26 SHOPPING SPREE VALUE STORE REMOTE CONTROL 21 TELEVISION All 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