Positive role modeling and influence is key to helping prevent violence against women.
That was one of the main messages during Chief Warrant Officer and squadron chief of the 431 Air Demonstration Squadron Alan Blakney’s speech at a luncheon on Thursday at Timothy Eaton Gardens. His theme was men working to end violence against women.
“(It was) my perspective on violence against women, not so much I think really from just a man’s perspective, but a man’s perspective of someone within the community,” said Blakney. “Men have an active role and (we’re) really trying to understand it.”
Put on by the Moose Jaw Transition House, the luncheon commemorated the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women and the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre in 1989. It also marked the end of the white ribbon campaign. All funds went toward a scholarship for women in non-traditional trades.
Blakney, who has been in the military for 30 years and with the 431 Squadron with the Snowbirds for the past four months, said he learned a lot while doing the research for his presentation. People need to focus on women’s equality and non-violent male gender roles, he said.
“Violence is learned. I’m in the military. We are in the business of projecting controlled warfare, but that doesn’t mean we have to be a violent group,” said Blakney. “What you do during your time, what you see as entertainment or a role model or something that occupies your day, it is going to influence how you think.”
For more information, see an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
