Abstract

During an ethnographic study of Helpmate, a domestic violence shelter in Asheville, NC that provides “crisis-level services...[to] victims of domestic violence and their children,” an intriguing question arose: where are the male counterparts to the predominately female volunteer and professional advocates at Helpmate? Through surveys and face-to-face informal interviews, Helpmate’s advocates expressed different positions on the role of men in domestic violence and intimate partner violence (DV/IPV) advocacy, and form the basis for this paper. The prevailing theme was that only a few males are involved in advocacy at the shelter and the broader DV/IPV advocacy community. Furthermore, participation was not only wanted by the respondents but also viewed as necessary to curb DV/IPV. In order to understand the complex role of men in DV/IPV advocacy and validate these findings, further investigation is required, namely a large scale study that complements and expands on the original research that will serve as a pilot study. Thus, the study has expanded into a full-scale, national research project, and every DV/IPV agency in the U.S. will be approached for participation. The survey is available at DV-IPV-Advocacy.org, and at the conclusion of the study the site will become a repository for information related to DV/IPV for academics and advocates, and a resource for victims working to become survivors. The research will illuminate male roles in DV/IPV advocacy and provide insights on how to increase the participation of males in DV/IPV advocacy.

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