Is SAFE a fit?

Before you decide to become a SAFE chapter, you probably want to spend some time investigating SAFE, and figure out if we're the organization you'd like to work with.

Philosophy

First of all, is our philosophy compatible? Our philosophy has also been to not engage in the sort of gender-war politics that we see extremists on both sides of the issue engaging in. While we appreciate much of what they're fighting for, and sympathize with their position, we have found it much more effective to concentrate on doing the hard work of providing these services, educating existing service providers on the needs of these groups, and training the service providers to more effectively serve these people. SAFE President Jade Rubick: ''Whenever I feel myself getting righteous and angry about the issue, I remind myself that I too once thought that people who talked about men being abused were reactionaries that were opposed to the progress that women had made in society. I too didn't realize that same sex violence and elder abuse were significant issues. I came from the same perspective. My perspective changed, and others can as well.''

This has been a common vision among SAFE members. We are active in trying to provide services and change things, but we're not out to vilify potential future allies in the DV community. Does this sound like you?

We provide services for everyone

Stop Abuse For Everyone focus' on providing services equitably, so generally our support groups and services are provided for any victim of abuse, man or woman, straight or gay. But we also specifically target those who have no services available to them, as a sort of ''affirmative action''. Often these populations do not realize that we are out there, so we reach out to them to let them know we're there.

Why don't we concentrate on only serving abused straight men, or abused gay men, or abused lesbians, etc..?

The answer to that is that we are building a new model of how services are to be offered. Instead of finding out what category of person they are before helping them out, we offer services to those who demonstrate a need for those services. After all, how do we know we're not missing out on another huge group unless we're willing to serve them?

SAFE is a human rights organization

We are not a men's rights organization, or a women's rights organization, or a gay rights organization. We are also from all over the political spectrum, from very liberal to very conservative. Some of us call ourselves feminists, some of us don't.

What this means to you is that you'll need to be willing to work with people from other types of backgrounds, respectfully. If you can't work with a person who calls themselves a feminist (or vice versa), then you might consider another organization.

If you work with SAFE, you will need to be comfortable working with gays and lesbians. You don't have to agree with their lifestyle (and some SAFE members don't), but you have to be able to work respectfully with them, and advocate for services for them.