WPI’s Title IX Coordinator becomes the newest Massachusetts White Ribbon Day Ambassador for Jane Doe Inc.

Jane Doe Inc. works to amplify the voices of all who are impacted by sexual and domestic violence and to undo the social injustices that perpetuate an abuse of power.

The White Ribbon Campaign is designed to educate men about non-violent attitudes towards women. White Ribbon Campaigns bring attention to domestic/family violence with the goal of ultimately ending violence against women and all forms of gender-based violence.

In 2008, domestic violence was declared a public health emergency in Massachusetts.1  In 2019, a study found that 33.9% of Massachusetts women and 31.7% of Massachusetts men experienced intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes.2 In that same year, there were also 28 domestic violence homicides in Massachusetts.3  In one day in 2019, 1,857 adult and child survivors were served by Massachusetts domestic violence programs. Another 441 requests of services went unmet due to lack of resources.4

White Ribbon Ambassadors play important roles in Jane Doe Inc.’s efforts to end domestic/family and gender-based violence. “As a White Ribbon Ambassador WPI now has access to additional resources and tools that will allow us to raise awareness of Domestic/Family and gender-based violence, especially during the month of October which is designed as Domestic Violence Awareness month,” Stewart says.

Stewart says he envisions events throughout the year where members of the WPI Community may engage in conversations about topics including masculinity, gender norms, race and gender. Discussions about what we can do to be part of the solution to end domestic/family and gender-based violence are also being considered.

“What is exciting is that this ambassador position and the efforts to end violence against women and all forms of gender-based violence fits nicely into WPI’s DEI Strategic Framework to establish a culture that embodies an authentic sense of inclusion and belonging,” says Stewart.

1 Commonwealth of Massachusetts (2015). Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking in the Workplace Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.mass.gov/service-details/domestic-violence-sexual-assault-and-stalking-in-the-workplace-statistics

2 National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2019). The national intimate partner and sexual violence survey: 2010-2012 State Report. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/NISVS-StateReportBook.pdf.

3 Jane Doe Inc. (2020). Overview of domestic violence homicides in Massachusetts: Year to date 2019. Retrieved from https://janedoeinc.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Resources_New/Domestic_Violence/DV_Homicides/Facts_Stats/2019_YTD_Homicides_Narratives.docx. 4 National Network to End Domestic Violence (2020). 14th annual domestic violence counts report. Washington, DC. Retrieved from https://nnedv.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/03/Library_Census-2019_Report_web.pdf.