United against violence

HARLINGEN - A group of residents, mostly men, chanted "End sexual violence! Now! Join together! Free our lives! We will not be victimized!" during a march Wednesday to City Hall.

Marching from the Men's Resource Center of South Texas in Harlingen, the group held signs with messages against sexual violence.

The remaining lines of the chant called on others to support sexual assault survivors and to stop hate.

"Men need to speak out against sexual violence or stop their own sexual violence," Men's Resource Center executive director Emiliano Diaz de Leon said. "For many of these men, it's the first time they've participated in anything like this."

Members and participants of the Batterers Intervention and Prevention Program, or BIPP, sponsored by Friendship of Women, were in attendance, BIPP director Estela Hankin said.

"There were some men and women who have battered and chose on their own free will to attend the rally because they want to change their lives and end domestic violence," Hankin said.

Rally participants held signs that displayed the words "support survivors," "honk for peace" and "one victim too many."

Once the group arrived at the front steps of Harlingen City Hall, they heard a poem from Lina Suarez and took a moment to honor victims and survivors of sexual violence, led by Frank Bauer, a rally participant.

"I think we all feel diminished by acts of violence and sexual violence," Bauer said.

"My contribution to society is diminished by that."

Drivers honked their car horns in response as they passed the group standing on the steps of City Hall.

"It was particularly encouraging when the cars honked," Bauer said.

"The point was to get people thinking about sexual violence."

Bauer said there are 42 acts of sexual violence committed every hour in the United States, and played a song that featured a bell ringing to represent those victims.

Then the group recited a pledge, led by Casa de Proyecto Libertad executive director Rogelio Nunez, in which they promised to do all they could to end sexual violence and sexism.

Nunez said that through the program's work with illegal immigrants, they have also come across victims of sexual violence.

"The majority of perpetrators of sexual violence are men, so given that, it's logical, I think, that if you're trying to reform people and to stop violence, that men should be a part of that," Bauer said.

There were also women and children at the march and rally, which is important because the majority of violence victims are women and children, Diaz de Leon said.

During the rally, it was also stressed that sexual violence affects everyone regardless of age, sexual orientation or gender.

"If affects all of us," Diaz de Leon said. "All of us know someone who has experienced some kind of violence."

The Men's Resource Center works to support men's journeys as they challenge violence and oppression, Diaz de Leon said.

The center holds support groups and offer community outreach programs that encourage men to live healthy lives and prevent violence.

The Men's Resource Center recently began hosting BIPP meetings at their Harlingen offices, Hankin said, and the two are the only groups in South Texas that focus strictly on domestic violence.

During the two-hour long meetings held once a week, BIPP counselors and staffers teach participants non-threatening behaviors and how to live a life free of violence, Hankin said.