Feminist activist Jackson Katz spoke to a nearly full Graham Chapel last Thursday on the importance of the feminism and gender equality for all.

Katz’ talk, “Taking It Personally: Why Gender Violence Is an Issue for Everyone,” focused on the need to eradicate violence against women and the role of men in advocating for gender equality.

The event, organized by the Leaders in Interpersonal Violence Education (LIVE), was the second event in the group’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month program.

Katz is well known for his work in the field of gender violence prevention education. His TED Talk, “Violence Against Women—It’s a Men’s Issue,” has been viewed more than two million times. He is a published author who works to make films and implement programs that incorporate men into the feminist movement by drawing attention to the personal stake that all men have in the movement. He also pioneered the “bystander approach” in relation to gender violence prevention.

“I think men and boys’ lives have been profoundly affected by, in a positive way, feminist women’s leadership in all of these areas,” Katz said.

He went on to draw attention to the amazing feats of advancement displayed by leaders of the feminist movement.

“It wasn’t until the 1970s that there was a such thing as a rape crisis center, or trained counselors on college campuses, or police that were trained to deal with these issues professionally,” Katz said. “I mean none of that was in place until strong empowered women, and some male allies, built the rape crisis movement in the 1970s.”

Katz noted that two specific areas in which men have benefitted from feminist involvement are domestic violence and sexual assault, both of which have profound impacts on men.

“If you are a seven-year-old kid cowering in the closet as your father or another man is raging against your mother you are not a witness—you are a victim.” Katz said. “You are not observing something happening to someone else, you are experiencing it happening to yourself. The experience of trauma is much more immediate and profound than suggested by the passing word.”

Katz added a slogan for the struggle to eliminate domestic violence.

“There is no peace on the streets if there is no peace at home. There is no peace in the community if there is no peace in the family.” Katz said. “There is no peace in the world if there is no peace at home. Feminists have been saying this for fifty years.”

Katz recognizes that men are the primary perpetrators of sexual violence, but he also want to emphasize that fact the men are also a significant portion of sexual assault victims.

“Men have been sexually assaulting other men and boys for many thousands of years, and we are only now recently talking about it which is a very positive development. But who do you think were the first people to talk about male sexual victimization? It was feminists in the 1970s,” Katz said.

Co-president of LIVE and junior Norah Rast noted how Katz’s visit to campus was the culmination of one of the organization’s goals and a stepping-stone to a greater conversation on campus.

“One of the main things we’ve thought a lot about in creating our organization is getting more men involved in our campus and getting everyone involved in the conversation about gender violence,” Rast said. “So I think Jackson Katz has been an inspiration for a lot of us in our course work and getting conversation getting started with these issues. We definitely wanted to engage more of the Wash. U. population.”

She added that another of the group’s goals is to gain more structural support from within the University and administration.

Freshman Celeste Bleiberg said she was attracted to the talk from what she’d heard of Katz’s activism.

“I thought he made some very powerful points and interesting perspective,” Bleiberg said. “I really appreciated his call to action for men and his recognition of the contributions women have made to combatting gender violence.”