An emerging profeminist men’s movement that allies itself with this women’s movement brought the Fourth National Conference on Men and Masculinity to Washington University in St. Louis in November 1977. Along with men from all over the U.S., the conference brought together men from all over St. Louis. These men were able to identify in each other a kindred spirit and common goals. There were many local projects that had their genesis at that event (a coffeehouse, several consciousness-raising groups, a childcare collective); the one that survives today is RAVEN.
The male founders of RAVEN had a common concern and anger about the hurt that had been done to the women they were close to, in some cases by themselves, and resolved that if men were to stop being violent it would be because men were stopping it. The founders were trained by the staff of the Women’s Self Help Center, from whom they gained an understanding of domestic violence. RAVEN opened its doors to men who battered in September 1978.
RAVEN has always been inspired and educated by the feminist women’s movement. Our continually evolving understanding of domestic violence is guided and challenged by the visions and experiences of the feminist battered women’s movement. We believe that violence perpetrated toward women is an institution among men. The reality is that men’s violence against women has been legally and socially sanctioned for centuries. And the legacy of the social construction of masculinity is that men are indoctrinated with beliefs of male supremacy. The resulting male privilege means – among other things – that all men benefit from violence against women.
RAVEN seeks to create social justice through a variety of avenues. The primary focus is the batterer’s intervention program. RAVEN educates men about the nature and ramifications of their abuse, and teaches them nonviolent alternatives to their domestic aggression. The program is guided by the following principles and philosophy:
- Safety for women and children is our highest concern.
- Men who abuse are solely accountable and responsible for their actions. In other words, violence is a choice.
- Anger does not cause violence.
- Men abuse to control, not because of a loss of control.
- A group environment is the preferred method of intervention and education.
RAVEN has always considered itself more than a social service agency providing a batterers intervention program. Because we understood that ending men’s violence was about changing the culture and the institutions, we have attempted to create a community of men and women that could live and work together in ways that challenged the existing patriarchal paradigms. We have organized community forums and gatherings that would allow people to explore cooperative alternatives to the competitive, alienating realities of our society. And our very structuring of the organization itself has been an ongoing experiment in radical decentralization and feminist process. We have used consensus decision-making throughout our history and operated as a collective as much as possible.
Another step in the effort of improve our accountability to battered women came in the form of an historic decision to open the previously all-male collective to women in the fall of 1993. In the spring of 1994, women took the staff training and joined staff for the first time. Since then, profound challenges and changes have taken place, as we have struggled to improve our work and practice our principles. Our practice of relentless self-scrutiny and invitation to ongoing community feedback is essential to our commitment to provide safety for battered women and children, and accountability to the larger community of women.
In 2004, RAVEN started its youth violence prevention program, based on an identified lack of preventative services for youth related to relationship violence. This program is now the fastest growing program of RAVEN. In this program middle and high school aged boys and girls participate in a series of interactive discussion and education classes that focus on violence prevention in their relationships. This 12-week prevention program provides the youth with information that empowers them to make safer choices in their own lives and share the message of non-violent relationships with their peers as they grow. Topics taught include assertive communication versus aggressive communication, non-violence planning, societal influences for violence, choice and responsibility and empathy training. In 2007, RAVEN added a peer leadership component to this program.
RAVEN is supported financially and socially from a variety of sources, including fees for services, state contracts, private donations and community fundraising. The St. Louis Organization for Changing Men is the legal name for RAVEN, and is the way we currently do business. RAVEN is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, who is responsible for fiscal and program governance. RAVEN relies heavily on a strong base of dedicated volunteers and we are continually searching for new volunteers. We offer an intensive staff and volunteer training program at least three times per year.