The Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) will commemorate this year’s White Ribbon Day (WRD) Campaign throughout the month of March with several community events. The White Ribbon Day initiative is a worldwide campaign that encourages men and boys to be part of the solution to end violence against women and all gender-based violence by promoting the concept of positive masculinity.
Throughout the month, MAPS will bring the campaign to various barbershops in Dorchester, where the organization’s advocates will engage and interact with customers in an effort to highlight the importance of the campaign.
“This is a great opportunity to directly engage the men in our communities, and highlight the importance of rethinking outdated stereotypes about masculinity,” said Dulce Ferreira, MA, MAPS Director of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services.
On March 3, a team of MAPS advocates will be at the BRACE 2019 Multicultural Fair, from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm, at 562 Waverly Street, in Framingham, to provide information and resources to the attendants and to encourage men to take the White Ribbon Day pledge.
“We want to invite all the men and boys in our community to step forward, whether in group or in private, and become part of the solution,” said Paulo Pinto, MPA, MAPS Executive Director. “We encourage all to take the White Ribbon Day Pledge, and live by it: ‘From this day forward, I promise to be part of the solution in ending violence against women, and all gender-based violence.’”
From March 13 to March 15, MAPS will be a guest speaker at the Approach International Student Center’s 1st International Student Conference, where the organization will do a series of presentations to students about Healthy Relationships, and bring awareness to the WRD Campaign. On March 17, MAPS will spend the day at the St. Anthony’s Church, in Cambridge, where they will be explaining the campaign to community members attending the religious services, and urging them to take the White Ribbon Day pledge.
Collaborating with Market Basket, MAPS will set up a series of informational sessions about the White Ribbon Day campaign, from 10 am to 12pm, at several of the supermarket’s locations (Somerville, March 9; Brockton and Lowell, March 16; Revere, March 23).
MAPS will also take part in the annual Massachusetts Statewide White Ribbon Day Proclamation Event, scheduled for March 1, at 1 pm, at the State House in Boston. This event is organized by Jane Doe Inc., the Massachusetts coalition of organizations providing support to victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. For more information about Jane Doe Inc., please visit www.janedoe.org. The WRD Campaign was created in 1991, on the second anniversary of one man’s massacre of 14 women in Montreal, to urge men to speak out against violence against women. MAPS has been part of the initiative since its inception in Massachusetts.