MSV's Community Restoration Program

Marks 20 Years of Support, Advocacy

Men Stopping Violence will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, but 2007 also marks the 20th anniversary of MSV's innovative Community Restoration Program (CRP).

Begun in 1987 as a program for men who had completed MSV's 24-week men's intervention program, CRP has evolved into a community education and advocacy team committed to the work of ending violence against women. The group's original intent was to offer men who had finished the program ongoing connection and support and opportunities to be of service to Men Stopping Violence. CRP continues that mission but since its founding has taken on a greater advocacy role in the community.

Members of CRP met with U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson

(third from left) and an aide in 2005 about the

reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

'“(CRP) allows me to reinforce my commitment to treat all folks, including my partner and all women, with fairness and dignity and trust,” said Bill Kirksey, co-leader of CRP. “Second, it sets an example for the men in my life. And third, it allows me to work toward creating a safe and more just world.”

CRP began as Third Phase, a program for who had finished the 24-week program. They began meeting to continue to work on their own issues and to assist Men Stopping Violence with the orientation sessions that all men attend before entering the education program. In the mid-1990s, Third Phase became the Community Restitution Program to reflect a new focus on intervening with men in the community.

In 2004, the name was changed again – this time to the Community Restoration Program – to emphasize the group's work for restorative justice.

"What we were saying was that part of changing yourself requires changing the environment you live in by restoring the climate of safety that is destroyed when men abuse women,” said Dick Bathrick, MSV Director of Programs and co-leader of CRP. "We went back to CRP men assisting our staff in educating men during orientations to our classes, but they now had more choices about ways to work in the community.”

Presently, CRP men act to create personal, cultural and political change through a range of activities. They make presentations to groups in the community. They work with Men Stopping Violence programs, such as orientation and the Because We Have Daughters® campaign, for which they recruit dads who want to make their communities safer for their daughters. And they monitor relevant state and federal legislation, meet with lawmakers, and even testify at legislative hearings during sessions of the Georgia General Assembly.

The legislative work began about two years ago in response to women advocates identifying a need for men to be involved with policy and legislation around the issue of violence against women.

“It is crucial that men stand shoulder to shoulder with women in this work, and CRP is doing just that,” said Kirsten Rambo, Executive Director of the Georgia Commission on Family Violence. “I have very much appreciated the men of CRP speaking out against violence against women. Because of the scarcity of men willing to speak out in this way, their voices have had a real impact, particularly in the legislative process.”

CRP men now speak in favor of pending state legislation that promotes safety for women and against bills that do not. In 2005, men in the CRP helped organize and implement a campaign to support reauthorization of the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). CRP members formed the core of a Georgia group called Men Supporting VAWA, which lobbied for passage of the reauthorization bill by meeting with Georgia congressmen. The bill passed and was signed into law in early 2006.

CRP members with the staff of U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop in 2005.

During the current session of the Georgia General Assembly, CRP members have turned their attention to a piece of introduced legislation that calls for a presumption of joint custody in child custody cases. Men Stopping Violence and other advocacy groups working on the issue of violence against women are opposed to presumptive joint custody, because many cases of contested divorce involve violence against women and children, and joint custody gives perpetrators of violence access to victims of violence. CRP members and others have talked with legislators and testified at hearings for the bill. Since being introduced, the language of the legislation has been changed.

'“The bill currently has ‘the best interest of the child' as the default, and we are very pleased to have done some work up front to get some legislators to say that,” said Kirksey. “We're trying to testify in hearings and keep it from being amended.”

Being able to take direct action has been energizing to men in CRP and reflects Men Stopping Violence's commitment to widescale social change. Men in CRP have found that being involved in planning and carrying out initiatives around policy change and lawmaking also helps them to stay true to the original intent of the group when it formed in 1987. Speaking out on the issues that affect women's safety means that the men in the group have to continually examine and re-examine their own beliefs and behaviors about violence in general and violence against women in particular.

“We have to support each other in the process of understanding legislative issues that affect women,” said Greg Loughlin, a CRP member who also works for the Georgia Commission on Family Violence. CRP's work around the joint custody issue, for example, calls on the men to be educated about its implications. “We talk to each other about our challenges and about really getting an understanding of why shared parenting is bad for battered women. Being able to articulate that and practicing articulating that to other men helps us. And it gives us something to share that doesn't denigrate women.”

The need for support was really brought home to Loughlin while they were working with Men Supporting VAWA.

“I felt good about it because I was with four or five other men who also felt strongly about this,” he said. “I don't think that any of us would have gone to do it alone, and if we had gone alone we wouldn't have been successful. When so many of the men that legislators hear from are against women's issues, it really makes a big impact when they see men advocating for the issues that other men aren't advocating for.”

Learn More

CRP provides a setting in which men can:

1. Continue to give and receive support to change abusive behaviors.
2. Complete community projects as a way to give back.
3. Encourage other men in the program to stay connected and continue to receive support for change.
4. Educate the community about violence against women.

Inquiries about the Community Restoration Program should be directed to Dick Bathrick at (404) 270-9894, ext. 21, or at dbath@menstoppingviolence.org.