WORKING WITH MEN
There is often a clear separation between work with and by men, and work with and by survivors. This division is part of the reason, as a society, we fail to fully understand each other’s experiences.This is where there are big gaps to learning that are vital within this type of liberation work.
As survivors of rape and male violence, we have always strongly believed there needs to be spaces where we are working in solidarity with men–to understand each other’s relationship to sexism, patriarchy, rape culture, masculinity and male violence.
We had been building ideas for how to make this space possible for many years, finally curating our first online course for men, in 2021; Dismantling Male Violence and Rape Culture: A Survivor-Led Course For Men. Holding a space where survivors of rape and male violence work with men, facilitate a learning space and build a new community is both powerful and necessary in this work.
We have since evolved our work to include a diverse range of different projects that work directly with men.
Ways
To Get
Involved
as a
Man:
Sleec Intervention Gym
For Integrity Workouts, Reconstructing Masculinity and Anti-Violence Action
A new facility to get in shape on all issues relating to integrity, accountability, patriarchy, masculinity, male violence and rape culture.
SLEEC Intervention GYM offers a range of different workout options; from access to our monthly Action and Unlearning Open Gym to personal training; 1 to 1 accountability sessions or 1-1 learning sessions.
These spaces seek to strengthen, support and nurture your relationship to self, behaviours and understanding of male violence and masculinity, as well as unpacking and exploring the impact of different forms of harm.
These new spaces are for men and non binary people that experience male privilege.
Accountability and Integrity Workouts
These sessions are a space for cisgender men and non binary people who experience male privilege, to explore and unpack their relationship to patriarchy, sexism, rape culture, male violence and masculinity.
This is a space to gain insight and knowledge, to ask questions, to share personal experiences and find real ways to take action. We sometimes have speakers with specific expertise and experience to facilitate part of the space.
Past sessions have included conversations on ‘sex, dating and relationships’, ‘consent and boundaries’, ‘how to actively challenge misogynistic behaviour in men’, ‘the impact of patriarchy on men’, and ‘how to start and hold difficult conversations about male violence’ and we have included speakers such as Lewis Wedlock.
Structurally, the space is a mix of discussion, reflective work and unpacking experiences and harmful behaviours.
GYM sessions are free to attend but donations are always welcomed and appreciated.
Training Programmes
We run our core courses Dismantling Male Violence and Rape Culture: A Survivor-Led Course for Men and Radical Accountability in Action throughout the year as well as our 1-1 Training Programmes based on participants' needs and availability .
We call it training because this kind of work requires the kind of consistency, intention and practice as the way you would train at the gym.
In these spaces we hold discussions, unlearn, relearn and challenge each other from a place of compassion, trust, humility and openness. We build spaces where we can feel safe to be honest and vulnerable with each other, where we can make mistakes, get it wrong, and unpack the messy and the difficult.
These spaces are shaped to give men the tools and knowledge to understand and actively dismantle rape culture, male violence and misogyny, while also addressing their harmful behaviour, their own internalised patriarchy, and the impact of sexism on themselves.
We want it to be a place where men can ask the uncomfortable questions to those who have direct lived-experience of rape and sexual violence, questions that may not have been appropriate to ask elsewhere. This kind of deep connection breaks down barriers that block real understanding of complex experiences.
