Jackson Katz, Ph.D.

Focus Areas

Jackson Katz is calling for an all-out paradigm-shift when it comes to gender violence. An educator, filmmaker, author and cultural theorist, Katz says that the way we talk about gender violence shifts accountability off of men and contributes to widespread victim-blaming. Earlier this year, a quote from Katz went viral: “We talk about how many women were raped last year, not about how many men raped women.”

The first man to graduate with a women’ s studies minor from his alma mater, Katz has been challenging convention ever since. He’ s spent nearly 30 years writing, lecturing and training around the world about the need to transform societal definitions of manhood that equate strength in men with power over women.

Katz co-founded Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) 24 years ago; the multiracial, mixed-gender program is arguably the most influential gender violence prevention program in North America. It was the first systematic prevention program in sports culture and the military.

Through MVP, Katz pioneered ‘the bystander approach’ , which gives men and boys – as well as women and girls – tools to act as leaders who challenge abuse and promote a peer culture climate where abusive behavior is seen as unacceptable.

“If we can create a culture where men and young men who engage in sexist and abusive behavior lose status as a result — including status with other men — we will see significant reductions in violence,” says Katz.