What Should a Violence Prevention Program Look Like in our Communities? The Conversation Continues …

Reframing Masculinity: Vulnerability and Responsibility

At the end of last year the Sudbury-Wayland- Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable held a very well attended workshop entitled “What Should a Violence Prevention Program Look Like in our Communities?” The ideas emerging from that day have formed the basis of the Roundtable’s 2015-16 Program year. The second program in the series: “Reframing Masculinity: Vulnerability and Responsibility” will take place on Tuesday, January 12, 2016, at 7 PM  in the Community Meeting Room of the Goodnow Library located at 21 Concord Road, Sudbury, MA.

Featured speaker for the evening will be Matthew Swoveland. who will focus his talk on the social, emotional needs of young men. The statistics are alarming and difficult to comprehend. 1 in 6 boys have been the victim of violence before adulthood. However, most violence against women is perpetrated by men. Matt will lead a conversation about navigating this challenging reality. He will share stories from his work and discuss ways to help boys and young men own both their strength and their vulnerability.

Matthew is Deputy Director at The Second Step, where he is leading innovative new programming to reach young survivors of domestic abuse, build their resiliency, and create bright futures. He comes to this work after having served 5 years as a crisis counselor for the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, where he was among the first men to take calls on their 24-hour hotline. Prior to The Second Step, Matthew worked with high risk and formerly incarcerated youth at Roca Inc., and oversaw the youth work team during the roll-out of the Massachusetts “Pay for Success” social innovation financing project. He is an author and scholar, and his blog posts have been featured on Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Follow him on Twitter: @mswoveland. 

Please join the Roundtable for this important discussion. The program is free and open to the public.