Men from across the Island Saturday stood atop the Vineyard Haven seawall as part of an annual traditional to raise awareness around domestic and sexual violence. 

CONNECT to End Violence, a domestic violence program and rape crisis center run by Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, organized the event, now in its 12th year, to educate the men and boys on the Island about gendered violence.

“The majority of perpetrators of domestic of violence are men, although the majority of men do not commit that violence. And the majority of victims are women,” said Jennifer Neary, the division leader of CONNECT to End Violence. “This is an opportunity for Vineyard or visiting men to take a stand, literally and figuratively, as part of the solution to violence against women.”

Community members who took part in the stand wrote why they chose to participate on chalkboards and posters. The majority of men wrote the names of women who were important to them.

The event is now in its 12th year. — Addison Antonoff

Matthew Malowski, CONNECT’s male initiative specialist and a school adjustment counselor at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, was one of the men standing out on the seawall.

He has been engaging students on the topic domestic and sexual violence through a program called SWEAR— Stand With Everyone Against Rape. The group, which is mostly young men, has a series of meetings, dinners and retreats where they discuss things such as what it means to be a man, how to be vulnerable, and stereotypes of masculinity. The program also provides bystander training.

“We know that the overwhelming majority of harm that’s caused in this world is done by men,” Mr. Malowski said. “Yet only about five to 10 per cent of the men in this world are actually causing harm. If such a minority amount of men are causing this harm, then what are the rest of us doing? Most men are good men, most men are loving, caring, nurturing, great men, but serious harm is still being caused.”

A large portion of the approximately 30 men who stood on the seawall Saturday were members of the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks baseball team. The team has participated in the event several times, and this year was no exception, although the team had to leave to catch the boat for an off-Island double header.

“I think it’s important to the community to show that we support everything that happens here,” said Russ Curran, the general manager of the team. “We all have women in our lives that have been affected and we want to show them where we stand on it.”

Many men held signs with the names of women in their lives. — Addison Antonoff

According to Ms. Neary, the team met with SWEAR students last week to discuss what the program taught them. Bob Dusa, who stood on the wall and hosts one of the Sharks players for the summer, said that the conversation about gendered violence has to continue at home.

“We had a conversation yesterday evening about what women are confronted with, even at a very young age. That’s a concern to me, and it should be for everybody,” said Mr. Dusa. “I think it’s come to the forefront more recently. Like any other issue that is problematic, it’s usually concealed for a while, or you don’t talk about it until something drastic happens.”