*************** Please Distribute Widely ****************

Your help is needed! Join the U.S. national call to action to support
sexual assault survivors and sexual assault programs impacted by the
recent tsunami in the Pacific Territories. President Obama has declared
the U.S. territory of American Samoa a major disaster after an undersea
earthquake caused a tsunami and massive flooding that has reportedly
killed over 100 people in the South Pacific Samoan Islands and the
islands of Tonga. Please help us help them in their efforts to survive
this disaster.

The Relief Fund for Sexual Assault Victims
<http://www.relieffundforsexualassaultvictims.org/> (Relief Fund) was
established in 2005 by U.S. national anti-sexual violence organizations
(National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, The National Organization of
Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault, National Sexual Assault
Coalition Resource Sharing Project, National Sexual Violence Resource
Center, and Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network) in order to address
the needs of sexual assault survivors during and after disasters. 

The Relief Fund is designed to:

1. Support the needs of sexual assault survivors 
2. Support the needs of sexual assault advocacy program staff 
3. Assist with expanded direct service capacity needs 
4. Assist with prevention initiatives to protect evacuees from
sexual violence 
5. Support relocation/rebuilding efforts for flood-damaged sexual
assault advocacy programs 

Here is how you can help:

Donate now! 

Join the effort to bring support and services to victims of sexual
assault through a donation to the Relief Fund for Sexual Assault Victims
<http://www.relieffundforsexualassaultvictims.org/> . There are three
ways to donate (credit card, pay pal or check).

Donate online
<http://www.relieffundforsexualassaultvictims.org/donate.html> or mail
to:
Relief Fund for Sexual Assault Victims 
c/o National Sexual Violence Resource Center
123 N. Enola Drive
Enola, PA 17025

100% of donations will go to victims/programs in affected areas.
Administrative costs are being donated by the National Sexual Violence
Resource Center. Funds will be allocated to state/territory or tribal
sexual assault coalitions in the affected areas for dispersing the
resources as needed within their respective regions. For questions
about the application process, please contact the National Sexual
Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) at resources@nsvrc.org. 

Spread the Word!

Please help us in building the fund by circulating this announcement.
Additionally, a Relief Fund Flyer describing the fund is available
online in pdf format
<http://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/file/Projects_Disasters_Relief
-Fund-Flyer-AS.pdf> to assist with getting the word out.

Help to prevent sexual violence in disasters!

Inform your community about the risk of sexual violence in times of
disaster. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center in partnership
with the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault has developed a
book entitled “Sexual Violence in Disasters: A planning guide for
prevention and response” available in English
<http://www.nsvrc.org/publications/nsvrc-publications/sexual-violence-di
sasters-planning-guide-prevention-and-response> and Spanish
<http://www.nsvrc.org/publications/nsvrc-publications/la-violencia-sexua
l-durante-desastres-gu%C3%AD-de-planificaci%C3%B3n-para-la-p> . Submit
requests for print copies to resources@nsvrc.org. Additionally, the
NSVRC has created an online collection of disaster preparedness
resources <http://www.nsvrc.org/projects/disasters> to assist
communities in their educational and planning efforts.

National Sexual Violence Resource Center

123 North Enola Drive, Enola, PA 17025

877.739.3895 Toll Free

resources@nsvrc.org

Many of you may not be aware that for the better part of the last eighteen years violence prevention has been a passion of mine, but mostly a labor of love; MSR, being a modest non-profit, has never had the resources to pay me, or any of the other folks who’ve devoted time to the cause, what our time was really worth; we subsist on the occasional grant and the rare, but quite welcome, stipend for workshop facilitation (though the majority of workshops that we provide in the community we do for free in circumstances where the requesting organization are themselves so strapped for cash).

As such, MSR, and violence prevention has often had to take a back-seat to whatever was foremost on my agenda in terms of a rent-paying job; even for the past two years that I have been unemployed, thanks to the havoc wreaked upon the economy, the search for employment was so encompassing that energy left over for changing the world was a rare commodity. So with this new position at WCASA, I will have a chance not only to pick myself up by my own bootstraps, but also the rare opportunity to earn a living doing something that I believe in and to which I am committed.

This does not mean an end to my association with MSR, nor my commitment to continuing this blog space and podcasting and such. I intend to continue to posting on behalf of MSR; and of course I will continue to work in the community doing prevention work, with a focus on increasing awareness of and participation of men. But, I will be wearing two hats – one as a member of the state coalition, and one as a member of one of the oldest men’s anti-violence organizations in the country.

And both worn quite proudly.

This first episode is a brief overview of what I have in mind for future podcast topics and a bit of “men doing anti-violence work 101″, serving as an introduction to our organization and the basic philosophy behind our approach to men being involved in the eradication of violence.

Please feel free to leave a comment, or send feedback (response, rebuttal, questions, topic requests) via email [see above, right].

You can reach us at:

sdmonty@men-stopping-rape.org

I’ll also be updating the site with new pages soon – including a more formal Contact page.

As we move into our new digs, there will be some growing pains; I’ve implemented WordPress to help expedite the posting process, so look for more regular, topical articles or comments to be posted here in the near future. I’ll also be migrating our former site content, so if you’re looking for information about our workshops or scheduling a visit from us, please return. Or, if you have pressing questions, contact Stephen or Joe.

Let the new adventure begin…