Men Stopping Violence - Internship Success Stories

Bernard Ellis
"The most challenging thing about the internship was learning that I was contributing to the violence by doing nothing to change it," said Bernard, who heard about the internship after Men Stopping Violence (MSV) brought its Because We Have Daughters® program to his church.

Leif Patterson
"I thought of myself as a child of the new millennium who didn't have negative prejudices toward women," said Leif. "The reality is that those beliefs are as present as ever and even the most enlightened of us is impacted. Those beliefs inundate our world and reach us through every aspect of our daily lives. Men holding other men accountable is one of the most powerful tools I have witnessed for combating domestic violence and it can be used in the fight against debasement of women in the media as well."

David Asher Burke
"My involvement with MSV led me to the job I currently have," said David. "I now conduct statewide trainings on the issue of batterers' intervention and violence against women. I hope some of what I do at these trainings inspires."

Langston Walker
"My involvement with MSV has taught me that choice is the most powerful quality I possess," said Langston, a coordinator of MSV's Community Restoration Program. "I always have a choice – in how I respond when I'm driving in traffic and someone cuts me off, in how I deal with a colleague physically threatening me at work, my supervisor being verbally abusive during a performance review, or practicing self care when dealing with friends or women I am dating. MSV has taught me that I am 100 percent responsible for my response."

Shyam K. Sriram
"In Islam, we believe that it is not about numbers; the ability to even save one life is very dear to our Maker," said Shyam, a college instructor who used his work as coordinator of the newly established Muslim Men Against Domestic Violence as his internship community project. "I hope and pray that if I can either prevent a woman from ever being abused or stop the violence in a woman's life, then I will feel content. Now, if that can be magnified and multiplied, then I feel like I will have a larger role to play."

Andre Scott
"I noticed that participants, even though they were trained as social workers, nurses to support patients and clients in crisis situations, appeared to be somewhat uncomfortable with this issue," said Andre. "Also during the discussions, I heard participants … making excuses for the abusive individual – minimizing, blaming – to take emphasis off of what took place in the story."

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