This is Black Girl Dad Week in Columbus. The week of events is sponsored by the Male Behavioral Health organization. Each night is focused on an issue to support Black fathers and uplift Black women.
Friday's topic is Black men against domestic violence. The aim is to engage Black men as advocates to end violence against women and girls.
WOSU’s Debbie Holmes spoke with Jewel Woods, a clinical social worker and therapist with Male Behavioral Health that is sponsoring the event.
Debbie Holmes: Reports show that July 2024 to the end of June 2025 was the most lethal year for domestic violence homicides in Ohio. It was 157, a 37% increase over the previous year. Is this one of the reasons why you're discussing this issue again this week?
Jewel Woods: Yes and no. We've been doing Black Girl Dad Week for four years, and so our focus on ending violence against women and supporting Black women and girls has been a mainstay of our week. But it is true what you just said that the statistics are rising. And so, the main reason why we're having this special focus is because while we're thinking about just general strategies for getting men involved, the strategy of calling men out because of bad behaviors, abusive behaviors, hasn't worked.
And so, what we're really interested in doing is calling in organizations and groups to this movement, so that they can know that part of being a good father, a good dad, or a good coach is absolutely having more information about domestic violence awareness training and education. So, we are doing this, yes, in part because of the rise in domestic violence, but we are insistent moving forward that any definition of healthy manhood, whether it be fatherhood programs or mentorship programs, must include issues related to the safety of women and girls, particularly Black women and girls.
Debbie Holmes: Now with the statistic I just gave you, 157 homicides, domestic violence homicides over a year's period, more than half of those victims were people of color. That's reported by the Ohio Domestic Violence Network. Why do you think this is happening specifically in the Black community?
Jewel Woods: It's a complicated issue, but the reality is, it's first important to recognize that not all men commit domestic violence and not all men that commit domestic violence end up doing a murder-suicide. So that population of men that end up doing murder-suicide is fairly unique. That doesn't minimize its importance, but it just helps to characterize that. And one of the things that also needs to be known, especially when it comes to how that situation happens, and especially for the victim, by the time that murder-suicide has happened, those women, and sometimes girls, have been subjected to torment, torture, and terror.
So, it's not as if it's just the one act and people mistake it when they think about what happens during murder-suicide. But the complicated thing about murder-suicide as a specific part of intimate partner violence is by that time, not only is the man's violence and victimization of his partner or spouse escalated by his own narcissism and view about life has gotten to the point where not only is he wanting to kill her, he no longer wants to live. And just that general pattern of meaninglessness and purposelessness, the reason why that's happening has to do with a lot of different things in this country.
Debbie Holmes: How can your efforts help this week, do you think?
Jewel Woods: By giving men the opportunity, as I mentioned, not to be called out, but to be organizations, people interested in, you know, supporting, let's say men and boys, but just don't have any understanding about domestic violence awareness, education or training. And so, again, in a very specific way, one, we are saying that if you work with men and boys, if you care for men and boys, you can't get the outcomes that you want without really putting domestic violence awareness and education as a part of your curriculum. As a part of your rites of passage, all that stuff.
The second way in which this helps, Debbie, and thank you for asking, is to really explode these myths out there surrounding gender. Unfortunately, there's a belief that if you work with men and boys, that you just don't care about what happens to women and girls. Conversely, if you work with women and girls and advocate for their issues, that you don't for men and boys. So, this effort is designed to, A, allow anyone that's interested in supporting men and boys to absolutely know that there's skills and knowledge that will make that process better. And B, absolutely destroy this myth that if you're doing work with either group, that you don't necessarily care about the other group.
Debbie Holmes: Is there any time in your life where this was an important issue for you? You sound very, very passionate about this.
Jewel Woods: Thank you for that question. So yes, I've written about this several times, but I, for your listeners, I ran batter-intervention programs for a decade, both in Michigan and in Ohio. And so professionally, I just have been part of this field for quite some time. But it is true, I grew up in a household where my father was very abusive, not only to my mother, but also to all the women in his life. And more importantly, I've seen the impact of domestic violence in communities of color throughout my childhood. And so, it is this type of thing that happens oftentimes behind closed doors, that there's a lot of stigmas behind it or it's personal business. And so absolutely I've been committed to this issue. I am also a husband and a proud father of two beautiful daughters. And so, the safety and security of all women and girls, but particularly Black women and Black girls is deeply important to me, both personally and professionally.
The "Black Men Against Domestic Violence" event is scheduled for Friday, June 26 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the 314 Church, located at 175 Fairway Blvd. in Columbus.
