Domestic violence activist, musician and spokesperson for male-driven media Russel Blake goes where few men will in the February 16 GWEN Talks webinar “Empowerment and Abuse from the Male Point of View.”

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A GWEN expert and passionate advocate for female empowerment and battered women, Blake takes on topics such as domestic violence stats, empowerment of men in the community, music and healing, while debunking the idea that men aren’t immune to the effects of domestic violence.

Considering the estimates that between 600,000 and 6 million women are victims of domestic violence each year and between 100,000 and 6 million men, (depending on the type of survey used to obtain the data) domestic violence is obviously not a gender-specific issue, yet we rarely get the male perspective.

COO and co-founder of GWEN, Tess Cacciatore, who will lead the call said, “It’s not surprising that men are not as forthcoming as women when it comes to the topic of abuse. Cultural norms require men to be strong, negating the appearance of female-perpetrated abuse and the likelihood that men would express fear of any kind.” For the one-and-a-half-hour webinar, Blake will draw from his book coming out later this year, As Men, We Can Do Better: 12 Principles of Effective Change Against Intimate Partner Violence. It’s Blake’s latest book in a series that promotes his philosophy — “Good men comprise the best solution against the worst of men, who practice Intimate Partner Violence.”

About the speakers:

Russel Blake

Russel Blake has been a concert soloist/musician for more than three decades. He has performed/toured/lectured in 65 countries on five continents. As an educator, Blake has been an adjunct professor at five universities teaching his “Universal Language Music History & Cultural Program.”

A short list of his work as a bassist includes both touring and recording with Cybil Shepherd, Mary Mary, Jessy Dixon, Angie Stone, Brenda Russell, Sonny Rollins, Chaka Khan, Wynton Marsalis and Broadway plays The Lion King and Dream girls in New York City.

He was contracted as an Ambassador of Goodwill by the U.S. State Department to perform in eight West African nations. He has also been contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to lecture on the symbiotic relationship between music and science. Blake is also the recipient of the Kellogg Foundation’s prestigious Artist-In-Residence Award.

He’s a partner/board member with The National Domestic Violence Registry, an advisory board member for Linda’s Voice and a spokesperson for the Global Women’s Empowerment Network (GWEN). Through these official affiliations, Blake has a platform as a public speaker and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

Tess Cacciatore

Tess Cacciatore is an award-winning producer, videographer, journalist and social entrepreneur who has dedicated her life advocating for peace, justice and equality around the globe.

Prior to co-founding GWEN, Cacciatore was the founder and executive director of the World Trust Foundation, an organization that mentors youth to become future leaders working for a sustainable world. Throughout the past decade Cacciatore has traveled the globe connecting youth-focused non-profit organizations, inspiring youth to learn, think and take action for positive change in their lives, in their local communities and in the global community.

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