A Few Good Men
“All it takes for evil to succeed is for a few good men to do nothing” – Edmund Burke (18th century philosopher)
A Few Good Men is a project that aims to get men and boys to take ownership of the way we treat women in our society. It is a shocking and inconvenient truth that 1 in 3 women worldwide have been physically or sexually assaulted. Just stop and think; 1 in 3 women. Our mothers, sisters, daughters, wives and friends. These are the women we’re talking about. They’re not strangers, they’re not alien beings. They’re our most precious partners in life.
A Few Good Men challenges us to confront the truth. The sad truth is that most of these acts of violence against women are committed by men. For example, less than 1% of rapes are committed by females.
So what does that say about the men who stand by and let this happen? Or make it happen? This is a call to arms to those few good men who want to be at the forefront of a revolution to change the way we treat women. It’s for fathers and sons, brothers and friends, husbands and mates; if you’re up for the challenge of being one of those few good men, join us on this journey. Check out this blog article I wrote in April 2020.
I’ve been involved with running workshops on respect for women, domestic violence and similar issues at many levels. With sporting teams, for schools and helping to even train the trainer with international programs like the MATE program run by Griffith University. I am a facilitator for MATE which includes Allison’s Gift, the ground-breaking DV education program pioneered by the Allison Bayden-Clay Foundation.
A Few Good Men was launched in August 2013 in my local community of Ferny Grove in Brisbane. It’s a fairly simple concept – to get a few good men to jump on board and bring their sons along with them on this journey of discovery.
The future of this project rests in the hearts and minds of the next generation of young men. Way before we get to the point where men are committing violent acts against women, we can shape their attitudes. It’s not enough to wait till something happens and then pick up the pieces. It’s not enough to expect females to speak out in futile protest.
This is a problem that only men can fix. All it takes is A Few Good Men.
