With men’s violence against women escalating under Trump, Jackson Katz urges men to step up and take action in his groundbreaking new book Every Man.
In the last two months, Donald Trump has dismantled Title IX protections against sexual assault and harassment on college campuses, defunded domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers and nominated men accused of domestic violence and child sex trafficking to top cabinet-level posts in the federal government.
As decades of progress against gendered violence crumbles around us, another man is speaking out: internationally renowned anti-violence educator Jackson Katz in his new book, Every Man: Why Violence Against Women Is a Men’s Issue and What You Can Do About It. Co-founder of the pioneering gender violence prevention program Mentors in Violence Prevention, Katz has written an engaging, practical guide for men who want to end violence against women.
Ms. spoke with Katz about his new book.
Carrie Baker: Your new book Every Man: Why Violence Against Women Is a Men’s Issue, was just published in the U.K. Why there?
Jackson Katz: After the tragic murder in 2021 of 33-year-old Sarah Everard, who was abducted and murdered by a London police officer when she was on her way home from a friend’s, I did a number of news and podcast interviews with U.K. media, including the BBC. The incident generated a big wave of feminist protest in that country led by young women. The media wanted to know what men can do. An editor at Penguin heard one of my interviews and contacted me about writing a book.
I think people should know that the publication of Every Man in the U.K. is the first time ever that a major publisher has published a book by a man about this enormously important topic.
Baker: What’s taken them so long?
Katz: It’s long been conventional wisdom in publishing that there isn’t a big enough market for it. I’ve always disagreed, and now we’re trying to prove them wrong. So far it’s going pretty well.
Baker: Mainstream media in the U.S. rarely cover the issue of men’s responsibility for stopping men’s violence against women. Why?
Katz: On a theoretical level, it comes down to power and how patriarchal systems work to protect and perpetuate themselves.
On a practical level, this plays out in various ways. For example, editors and producers worry about whether talking about the responsibility of men will be seen as unfair to men or even as “male-bashing.” After all, men make up half the population/audience/market—don’t want to risk alienating them!
I’ve been trying to push the idea of men speaking out into the media and cultural mainstream for almost 40 years. Now that an adjudicated rapist has been re-elected president of the U.S., and alleged rapist, sex trafficker and unabashed misogynist Andrew Tate is a global online media superstar, some people in media have finally realized that it’s time to start talking about the ways in which non-abusive, anti-sexist men can be—and are—part of the solution to all of this.
Baker: You’ve been doing a lot of writing and media interviews about the hit British Netflix series Adolescence. Could the popularity of this show represent a turning point of sorts?
Katz: It sure has sparked a huge outpouring of commentary and concern, much of it from parents who are horrified that the online world many of their sons frequent is filled with misogynous manfluencers who stoke boys’ and men’s grievance and anger toward girls and women. It’s brilliant televisual art that has created a powerful teachable moment. Meanwhile, the Trump administration recently facilitated the entry of Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan into the U.S. and out of Romania, where they had been confined by the authorities, awaiting possible trial on rape and sex trafficking charges.
Baker: You argue that rather than talking about “violence against women,” we should be talking about “men’s violence against women.” Why is this important?
Katz: Because “violence against women” is a passive phrase. Something bad is happening to women, but no one is doing it to them. It just “happens,” kind of like the weather. When you insert what linguists call the “active agent”— men—you have a more honest and accurate phrase: men’s violence against women.
Using direct language is the first step toward shifting the onus of responsibility off of victims and survivors and onto where it belongs—on abusive men and the culture that produced them.
I always say to men: Think about what you can do in your sphere of influence to make it clear to the men or young men around you that you’re not cool with misogyny or any forms of men’s mistreatment of women.
Jackson Katz
Baker: People usually think of gender-based violence as a women’s issue, but you argue that it’s a men’s issue too. Can you explain?
Katz: Men commit the vast majority of “violence against women.” Take the issue of rape. Whether the victims are women, men or non-binary people, men commit the overwhelming majority of rape, something like 99 percent. Calling it a women’s issue is a deflection. It’s like saying racism is an issue for people of color, or homophobia is an LGBTQ+ issue. In each case, the dominant group gets a pass. Among other things, this makes prevention efforts much more difficult, because many men don’t see this as their issue.
Men are also deeply affected by other men’s violence against the women we love. Virtually every man I know has women or girls close to him who’ve been victims of other men’s violence, in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood. Also, in my book I discuss Michael Kaufman’s concept of the “triad of men’s violence”: Men’s violence against women is connected to men’s violence against other men, which is connected to men’s violence against themselves. (Suicide is violence turned inward.)
Baker: Why did you title your book, Every Man?
Katz: It’s a call to action. I believe that every man has a role to play in counteracting misogyny and men’s violence against women, just like I believe all white people have a responsibility to work for racial justice—if they believe in elementary fairness and other democratic values. Sadly, in our country today, these are not givens.
The book focuses on men who say they’re “good guys” who would never sexually or physically assault women. The kind of guy who says, Why should I read this book, attend a rally, speak out about this subject? I don’t do these horrible things to women. My point is that millions of men contribute to the status quo through their silence or inaction. My book offers insights into what’s going on in the thought process of many men that keeps them from becoming effective agents of change. And it is also filled with practical suggestions for what men can do.
Baker: What role do men have to play in addressing men’s violence against women?
Katz: There is so much men can do! In my talks and trainings, I always say to men: Think about what you can do in your sphere of influence to make it clear to the men or young men around you that you’re not cool with misogyny or any forms of men’s mistreatment of women. Everything from casual sexist comments to gang rape—and everything in between.
If you’re not yet doing much of anything, let’s talk about how you can change that. If you’re in a position of formal leadership, you have a responsibility to address this issue forthrightly—and proactively.
We can’t be rushing from one broken man to the next and trying to figure out what went wrong with him—that’s more like whack-a-mole. …. The problem exists because of systemic gender inequality that is deeply rooted in patriarchal institutions.
Baker: Why are men violent toward women?
Katz: There are many reasons, but virtually none of it is inevitable or genetically predetermined. Male children are not born biologically programmed to abuse and assault girls and women. Some people like to say it’s “learned behavior.” But even that phrase is problematic, because it’s passive. I like to say it’s “taught behavior,” because everything that is learned is also being taught. I look at the many ways we teach boys and men how to be men in ways that normalize misogynous abuse—and not just within families. In Every Man, I put a special spotlight on porn culture and the online misogynous manosphere, but there is so much more. As I always say, if it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to raise a rapist.
Baker: Why does society allow or encourage men’s violence against women?
Katz: The multiracial and global women-led movements against gender-based violence have had world-historic, transformative impacts over the past half-century. But this is truly a long-term struggle. The pervasive global calamity of men’s violence against women is not the result of the shortcomings or pathology of individuals.
We can’t be rushing from one broken man to the next and trying to figure out what went wrong with him—that’s more like the whack-a-mole theory of social transformation. The problem exists because of systemic gender inequality that is deeply rooted in patriarchal institutions, some of which go back millennia. All of this is why it’s so hard to end it.
Part of the solution is to work toward gender and sexual equality, but even that’s not quite enough, because even if we had formal legal and political equality in the private and public sectors, we’d still have the cultural influence of customs and traditions, religious and secular, that go way back.
Baker: In your book, you talk about how we must get bystanders of gender-based violence to intervene. Can you explain?
Katz: I’m one of the original architects of the bystander approach to gender violence prevention. The Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) program that I created and co-founded in the early 1990s introduced bystander training to the sexual assault and domestic violence prevention fields. The idea is that everyone in a given peer culture has a role to play to support victims/targets/survivors, and interrupt and challenge abusive behaviors.
My thinking was that one way to reduce misogynous behavior by men, young men and boys was to make that behavior socially unacceptable within male peer cultures, not just because abusers would get in trouble with the authorities, like the school principal, the college administrator, or the police, but because the peer culture would police itself. Bystander training is now in the mainstream of prevention work in the field.
Unfortunately, much of it in this country is degendered, more of an “if you see something, say something” model, like the TSA in airports. This is more akin to a nightclub bouncer training than it is to truly transformative educational practice. We need to be talking to and with boys and young men about social norms around masculinities, sex and violence, and the ways in which so many of them are still being taught that being a (heterosexual) man means sexual entitlement to women’s bodies—in public and private spaces—and the right to control women in relationships. That’s what’s called a “gender transformative” approach to prevention, and it’s prevalent around the world in the “engaging men and boys” space.
Baker: Your book gives practical advice to men about how to address gender-based violence. What are some of the most important things men can do?
Katz: One of the biggest takeaways from my book is that gender violence prevention needs to be understood as a leadership issue for people at all levels of institutional and political authority—in the public and private sectors.
For people of all genders, but that includes men. Not because they’re “good guys” helping out, but because they’re leaders.
For men and young men who are not in positions of formal leadership, we need them to develop the confidence and skills to break their complicit silence. Bring up the subject when they can. Don’t always wait for women to ask them to do this. That’s yet another burden women are unfairly expected to bear. Do it smartly, thoughtfully, safely.
I’m not saying it’s easy. It can be very difficult and awkward interpersonally. One of the main reasons why it’s still relatively rare to see men do this is that it often takes a great deal of self-confidence for men—and not just young men—to take a strong stand against pervasive kinds of normative misogyny. That’s why it’s a leadership issue!
Baker: Trump ran an explicitly hypermacho campaign, with UFC founder Dana White speaking at the Republican National Convention and Hulk Hogan ripping off his shirt. What does this say about the decades-long feminist campaign to end men’s violence against women and to expand ideas of masculinity? Are we losing this fight?
Katz: I won’t say we’re losing the fight, because I take a very long view. But we’re facing major headwinds and some unprecedented and scary setbacks. The election of Donald Trump in 2016 and his re-election in 2024 represent an enormous step backwards in the prevention of domestic and sexual violence, and of gender and racial equity in general. I also believe it’s been an enormous setback for men of all ethnic, racial and sexual identities who want to be healthier and more whole human beings that desire and are capable of intimate connection with women, as well as themselves.
But let’s face it—the animating energy behind Trumpism, and right-wing populism here, in Europe, and elsewhere, is white male grievance. MAGA is a men’s movement, and Trump’s 2024 campaign doubled down on its outreach to men, especially young men. The Democrats were clueless about how to respond, despite people like me and others shouting from the rooftops for many years that they needed to do a better job of speaking to and with men and young men—and not just white men.
I am one of the co-founders of the Young Men Research Project. We started sounding the alarm in early 2024. The gender gap is huge among young voters.
One of the interesting things about the young men’s vote, which went to Trump, is that many of the young men who voted for him are liberal and progressive on a multitude of issues. The strong majority of young men are pro-choice, for example, and strongly support labor unions and aggressive government action on the climate crisis. And yet many of them voted for Trump—based on identity! How did this happen?
One clue is that not only did Trump go on numerous “brocasts” like Joe Rogan and the Nelk Brothers to hang out with the guys. But the Trump campaign also outspent the Biden and then Harris campaigns something like 10-1 in outreach to young men. Tragically, that investment might have made the difference in the election.
Baker: How is the Trump administration impacting your work to end men’s violence against women?
Katz: The cuts that Elon Musk and DOGE are making have been devastating to people in the GBV field. The fear of losing funding for vital services for survivors is pervasive. There has been a huge rollback of funding for federal initiatives around prevention. And it’s still early days. People are scrambling to figure out what they can and cannot say, what funding will be restored and what is gone, etc. What’s been happening is outrageous, but people don’t want to speak out because of the possible repercussions.
My hope is that many people who voted for Trump were politically naïve and didn’t realize that this is what they would get—on this and many other issues. We’ll see if the movements to oppose Trump’s agenda will gain traction in the coming months and years, and we can reverse some of the destruction he has unleashed.
Baker: When will Every Man be coming to the U.S.?
Katz: I’m very happy to say that Every Man will be published in the U.S. this September by Bloomsbury Publishing.
