The Men Rising Initiative engages men leading gun violence prevention work in the effort to put a stop to violence against women.
*All photos courtesy of Kevin Talbot/Cristina Figueroa of Talbot Media, LLC.
Our RISE team gathered together with community partners and leaders to celebrate the launch of the Men Rising Initiative—a program that mobilizes men leading anti-gun violence work in the Bronx and Harlem to prevent gender-based violence.
The RISE Project takes a community-led approach to addressing the intersection of gun violence and intimate partner violence. At a launch event in the Bronx, the team honored partner organizations leading community-driven responses to violence—BronxConnect, VIP Mujeres, SAVE East Harlem, CONNECT, and our Save Our Streets program—and heard from survivors, advocates, and local leaders working to bridge gaps between gun violence and gender-based violence prevention efforts.
“We’re proud to launch Men Rising and continue the vision we have with RISE and the Crisis Management System in New York City,” said Karolin Betances, Project Director at RISE. “This initiative is about disrupting violence at the root by calling upon the very people who are doing this work—the credible messengers.”
Though they’re often treated as separate issues, gun violence and gender-based violence are inextricably linked. Neighborhoods most impacted by gun violence also face the highest rates of intimate partner violence, and someone experiencing abuse is five times more likely to be killed when their partner has access to a gun. The roots of many community violence incidents can be traced back to situations involving intimate partner violence.
That’s why Men Rising aims to engage men and boys in the effort to put a stop to violence against women and girls. By building partnerships between gun violence and gender-based violence prevention networks, it breaks down silos that often stifle vital community safety initiatives.
Men have a crucial role to play in that work. That’s especially true for those involved in gun violence prevention networks, who serve as trusted, credible members of their communities and are in a unique position to drive change.
The Men Rising Initiative partners with men engaged in these networks to help them leverage their experience and standing within their communities to prevent violence against women. Members of the initiative lead community campaigns to raise awareness, educate others about the link between gun violence and gender-based violence, and shift harmful norms that contribute to these issues.
“This is amazing to try to break down the silos, because we know that violence is violence—the trauma is the same, what causes it is the same,” said NYC Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “We also know that carceral solutions have not actually stopped the violence, so trying to find a way that’s based in dealing with the trauma that’s causing it will be so much better to prevent further harm.”
The goal is to help those already leading gun violence prevention efforts to integrate new approaches for preventing gender-based violence into the work they do every day. Men Rising members receive weekly training and mentorship opportunities to develop those strategies in their own work and strengthen their role as leaders in preventing violence against women.
“We can’t keep people safe in their homes if they’re not safe in their communities,” said Saloni Sethi, Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV). “And we can’t keep communities safe unless community members are safe at home.”