MENxx at its first edition. Men spoke to men about women

Sexual violence against women reflects our values and attitudes, but it can be avoided. This statement was expressed by several men, opinion makers, participants in the first edition of MENxx, an event organized by the International Center “La Strada”.

 

As stated by the organizers, the event generically called as “MENxx: The culture of rape” resulted from the need for some discussions in the society about the convictions that encourage and justify rape.

Speaker 1 - https://youtu.be/G4HP44xgbOI

In this context, the women’s rights defenders condemn the fact that the society we are living in associates violence with something sexy, and sexuality with something violent. Thus, a woman must face aggressive and humiliating behaviors, that vary from bad and offending words, to undesired touches and rape. Also, there is toleration of harassment, physical and emotional abuse towards girls and women, as a presumed inevitable fact of life. “At the same time, the things that seem inevitable are the ones that can be changed”, says Ana Revenco, President of the International Center “La Strada”.

The format of the evening included three monologues held by men about women. The speakers were: Marin Basarab - journalist, Alexandru Lebedev - media manager and Victor Lutenco - husband, father, migration expert. All of them treated the subject from different perspectives.

Speaker 2 - https://youtu.be/p6_o9ugmJwc

While Victor Lutenco spoke from the perspective of a girl’s parent, Marin Basarab focused more on examples that for a long time present rape as a heroic deed, humanizing attitudes that should, actually, be condemned. Alexandru Lebedev pointed out that the society we are living in prefers not to answer the questions related to sexuality, thus leaving the ground for abuses.

An aspect that all the participants agreed upon, referred to the fact that the rape exists indeed, it must be condemned and firm actions must be taken in order to eradicate this phenomenon.

Speaker 3 - https://youtu.be/qUheQva0VNo

The organizers promised that MENxx, will have continuity. Thus, during the next meetings speakers will be of different age and will come from different activity fields, and will identify the gaps in the system, that favor tolerance for rape. Organizers say that this happens because currently, tolerance for rape is being “educated” from generation to generation.

The event is part of the activities organized on the occasion of the 15^th Anniversary of the International Center “La Strada” activity in the Republic of Moldova. In the same context, on November 14-18, Odeon Cinema hosted the “La Strada” Movie Week.

Spot presentation - https://youtu.be/qGuDCWIgv-I