The 25th annual Men’s March Against Violence takes place Thursday, beginning at Iolani Palace.
Organizers for the domestic violence awareness event are expecting at least 1,000 participants this year after counting 1,100 during last year’s event. The event has grown substantially from the couple hundred attending about a decade ago.
March organizers want to highlight the prevalence of domestic violence at home and within the workplace, stating that 20% of adult women experience domestic violence in the workplace and an estimated 25% of women will experience severe physical violence by an intimate partner.
One of the primary messages of the march is to raise awareness that domestic violence “does not discriminate,” as well as to address misconceptions and share warning signs.
“One common misconception would be that this only happens to certain kinds of families and certain kinds of communities, and that’s not accurate,” said Nanci Kriedman, CEO of the Domestic Violence Action Center and the catalyst for the march 25 years ago.
Domestic violence is a worldwide problem and affects all economic and social spheres.
Kriedman also discussed the misperception that drug and alcohol use cause domestic violence, saying while they make the problem worse many domestic violence perpetrators don’t drink or use drugs.
She also said that the decision to leave an abusive relationship is not simple or easy, and that oftentimes those who want to leave don’t have the resources to do so or a place to go.
“Leaving is not an event, it’s a process,” Kriedman said. The most dangerous time for victims is as they try to leave, she said. “Women who get killed are most often killed when either they’ve begun to take steps to leave or have left or are leaving.”
Kriedman said a partner being jealous, controlling or verbally demeaning are some of the warning signs to watch for in potentially abusive relationships.
Medical students are
also being made aware of signs that indicate someone may be involved in an abusive relationship. “In the case of children, there are injuries that you wouldn’t have expected someone of that age or stage of life to have received,” said Jerris Hedges, dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine. “With adults, oftentimes it’s the story that just doesn’t seem right.”
Longtime march participants have seen it grow over the years.
“The engagement in
the business community
is actually the biggest change that I’ve seen,” said David Tumilowicz, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii’s vice president for public relations, communications and brand management, who has attended the march for eight years. “If you think about what it takes for a large company to mobilize their men to come out and join us — it takes leadership.”
Tumilowicz said this year’s march will include up to 100 men from both Central Pacific Bank and First Hawaiian Bank.
March organizers have asked participants to gather at Iolani Palace at 11:30 a.m. Marchers will walk down King Street away from the Kamehameha statue, turn on Bishop Street and walk down Beretania Street toward the state Capitol.
