{"id":12300,"date":"2019-10-23T15:58:17","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T01:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/?p=12300"},"modified":"2020-03-11T09:02:27","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T19:02:27","slug":"the-mens-march-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/the-mens-march-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"A First-Timer&#8217;s View of The Men&#8217;s March"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"12300\" class=\"elementor elementor-12300\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-79a7fda5 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"79a7fda5\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-329ffafe\" data-id=\"329ffafe\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5af44d2e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5af44d2e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-large\">A First-Timer's View of The Men's March<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-380016da elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info\" data-id=\"380016da\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-info.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-46f67bb elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"author\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/author\/mkotrodimos1\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"far fa-user-circle\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-author\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarybeth Kotrodimos\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-a474e5f elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"datePublished\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/2019\/10\/23\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-calendar\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-date\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time>October 23, 2019<\/time>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-473be853 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"473be853\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/48839694216_181caca4f8_6k.jpg?fit=640%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-12307\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/48839694216_181caca4f8_6k.jpg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/48839694216_181caca4f8_6k.jpg?resize=150%2C117&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/48839694216_181caca4f8_6k.jpg?resize=300%2C234&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6d173247 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6d173247\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6b3f534c\" data-id=\"6b3f534c\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4b9b471e elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"4b9b471e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-74290330 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"74290330\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Written by Marybeth Kotrodimos<\/p><p>October 23, 2019 &#8212; At 11:30 am, Thursday, October 3, I left my post at the front desk of UHP Central to join the Men\u2019s March Against Violence. A new resident of Hawaii, I had first heard of the annual Men\u2019s March last year when the <em>UH Med Weekly<\/em> ran a story about \u201cthe sea of green\u201d that would flow through the streets of downtown Honolulu. I saw people I knew from my new job at UHP &#8211; the Dean of JABSOM, Dr. Jerris Hedges, our CFO\/Interim COO, Chip Ellis, and Native Hawaiian Health\u2019s Dr. Keawe Kaholokula, among others \u2013 marching and chanting on TV and on the front page of <em>The Star-Advertiser<\/em>. I watched the <em>Hawaii News Now<\/em> interview of Dean Hedges in which he gave his personal account of why he became involved in the march and the movement to raise awareness of the issue of domestic violence.<\/p><p>I can\u2019t remember why I didn\u2019t march last year.\u00a0 Perhaps it was because I was new to UHP and didn\u2019t want to ask for the time away from the office.\u00a0 Maybe it was because I had something else that needed my attention that day, but I knew that this year, the 25<sup>th<\/sup> year of the event, I wanted to participate. Fortunately, the organizers at JABSOM made it very easy to do that.<\/p><p>On the morning of the march, shuttles ran continuously between JABSOM and Iolani Palace, where the march began and the rally that followed it would take place. In the lobby of the Medical Education Building at JABSOM, I was greeted by a small group of med students who were driving the shuttles and giving out the bright green t-shirts that most everyone from JABSOM and UHP would wear at the march. They introduced themselves to me and, offered me a t-shirt.\u00a0 And even though a full van had just left for the march and at that moment there were only two of us waiting to go, they quickly got us into another van and over to the event.<\/p><p>Upon arrival, I was easily able to identify the green-clad group from JABSOM and UHP who gathered with Dean Hedges in front of the State Capitol Building.\u00a0 Tina Shelton (JABSOM\u2019s Director of Communications, Media and Government Affairs), Deborah Dimaya (JABSOM Communications Deputy Director) and Vina Cristobal (UHP\/JABSOM Communications) snapped pictures of us holding placards and a big green JABSOM banner. The Dean shook my hand and thanked me for representing UHP at the march. Though it was hot and humid and the reason for the gathering was weighty and cheerless, there was buoyancy in the air, and a sense of purpose.\u00a0 While no one was making light of the cause of domestic violence, everyone seemed upbeat and glad to be there. \u00a0The sea of green was about to take shape and mobilize.<\/p><p>From our gathering place in front of the State Capitol Building, we walked to a large white tent behind Iolani Palace where a speaker was reading off each of the names of those who had lost their lives to domestic violence in Hawaii in 2019 with a brief description of how they had been killed.\u00a0 The last name was of a woman who, unlike the others, was still living \u2013 and fighting for her life in a hospital bed at that very moment.\u00a0 The speaker asked us to think of her as we marched.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure I could have talked with anyone at that moment, so moved I was by this presentation of the list.\u00a0 It was only the first time I would feel that way during the march and the rally that followed.<\/p><p>As we began our march, I saw a rather large group of HPD officers in full uniform walking next to me.\u00a0 My first thought was that they were there to keep the peace, but then I realized that they were marching along with us, representing HPD in their support of this cause.\u00a0 JABSOM\u2019s Special Events Coordinator, Melia Young, walked along side me passing out green fans from JABSOM. \u00a0There was something about the sight of these officers on that hot afternoon, holding those fans and showing their support, which lent a certain substantiality to this event. These were the first responders \u2013 the people who are called to homes when things go terribly wrong, the ones who see the worst of it on a regular basis.<\/p><p>People lined the sidewalks and chanted with us as we marched.\u00a0 In front of the Central Pacific Bank building a group of bank employees, holding blue pom-poms and rattling noisemakers, joined in our chant: \u201cEnd the silence. Stop the violence.\u201d<\/p><p>Groups of downtown office workers had left their desks and come out to the street to show their support. Among them was a large gathering of people from the Hawaii Community Foundation on the corner of King and Bishop Streets, wearing t-shirts of support and thanking us for marching. Further on, a construction worker in a hard hat and reflective vest filmed us with his phone as he chanted with the marchers:\u00a0 \u201cStop stop stop \u2013 stop the violence.\u201d<\/p><p>Male voices rose loudest and clearest among the 1,000 plus participants as we all made our way through the crowded downtown streets, leaving no doubt that this was primarily a message of solidarity and support from the men of our community. But many women and girls were there as well, some holding signs, some pushing baby carriages, or holding the hands of their young children.\u00a0 People of all ages, genders, and ethnicities marched and chanted and showed their support.<\/p><p>Back at the Iolani Palace, there was a large canopy sheltering the students and staff from UH and JABSOM who were giving away bottles of water and bags of chips, cookies, and other snacks \u2013 the highlight of which was the ice cream and sherbet cups donated by Meadow Gold for this event. People representing Hawaii Pacific Health, Bank of Hawaii, and Kaiser Permanente also had set up tables and tents and were giving out chips, cookies and other small bags of snacks.\u00a0 A few people from the Kaiser tent were passing out cups of water from trays that they carried through the crowd which had returned from the march.<\/p><p>Under the big white tent, Dr. Jamie Ford of Kaiser Permanente served as MC to this 25<sup>th<\/sup> annual march. His perspective as a physician who is has committed his support to this movement against domestic violence was highly effective. According to an account on the Domestic Violence Action Center (DVAC) website, he has \u201cperfected the art of emcee\u201d at this event.<\/p><p>With well-deserved praise and obvious admiration, Dr. Ford welcomed to the stage Nanci Kreidman, CEO of the Domestic Violence Action Center (DVAC), the main organizers of the march. She founded DVAC 35 years ago, and has dedicated her life to educating the public about this issue as well as providing help and support for survivors and families impacted by domestic violence.<\/p><p>Council Member Ann Kobayashi from District 5, was next on the stage for the Lifetime Recognition Award for her hard work and dedication to this cause.<\/p><p>The next speaker was Brian Kohatsu, who gave an honest and courageous account of how he had grown up a victim of domestic violence and sexual abuse, only to become an abuser himself. He talked about accountability and how important it is for men, in particular, to hear these messages about domestic violence. His account of how he had gone from victim to abuser, to one who now is committed to \u201cmaking living amends\u201d for the violence he had committed in his personal relationships, was truly inspiring.<\/p><p>The last speaker was Judge R. Mark Browning, Chief Judge of the First Circuit of the State of Hawaii, who was recognized as Distinguished Citizen of the Year for all he has done to address this issue of domestic violence.\u00a0 He spoke about what he has seen from the judge\u2019s bench, about \u201cthe violence that goes on every day\u201d in homes across Hawaii and the nation.\u00a0 He said that the body will heal, but the scars that children sustain from family violence, the damage done to the soul, \u201clives on and on\u201d. It is \u201csmall acts of love and grace,\u201d he said, that \u201cmake a difference\u201d in the struggle against domestic violence.<\/p><p>The rally concluded with Kelii Beyer of the DVAC bestowing leis on these individuals who have done so much to raise awareness of this issue.<\/p><p>Throughout the ceremony, Dean Hedges, who has serves as honorary chair of this march, and has been such an important part of this event throughout the years, was among a small group who stood up front with the speakers. His commitment to ending family violence is rooted deep in his experiences.\u00a0 An emergency medicine doctor by training, as well as one who experienced family violence in his home as a child, he has seen firsthand the damage that domestic violence can do.<\/p><p>The pervasiveness of domestic violence is undeniable.\u00a0 Each year in Hawaii, 50,000 women between the ages of 18 and 64 are victims, and they are found at every socio and economic level and among every ethnic group. A message that came through loudly at this event was that silence can be deadly. Thus far, in 2019, there have been over 17,000 calls to DVAC\u2019s Domestic Violence hotline.\u00a0 So many people never make that call.\u00a0 So many suffer and even die in silence. It is estimated that one in five employees is a victim of family violence. The resulting damage of domestic violence extends beyond the home and family.\u00a0 It affects our businesses and communities as well.<\/p><p>I hope that more of us from UHP will join Dean Hedges in this march next year. I hope that many more of us will come out that day and share this powerful experience of mobilizing with others to raise awareness and end suffering. Breaking the cycle of shame and silence is the first step towards stopping the violence. By lending our voices to this movement, we encourage victims to speak up and get help, we promote compassion and understanding, and we really do help to make the world a better place, not just for the victims of domestic violence, but for us all.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5fd08f48 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5fd08f48\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-52d944bb\" data-id=\"52d944bb\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7c89ddad elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"7c89ddad\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/news-all\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">&lt;&lt;   &nbsp;Return To News<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 23, 2019 &#8212; On October 3rd, the 25th annual Men&#8217;s March Against Violence took place in Downtown Honolulu.  Marybeth Kotrodimos attended and shares her experiences of the march and the rally that followed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":12307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-12300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-central"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/48839694216_181caca4f8_6k.jpg?fit=640%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12300"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13176,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12300\/revisions\/13176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}