The Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan (WRCNM) thanks the more than 260 individuals who attended the recent screenings of the documentary Miss Representation.   The interest in the film and its impactful message were very encouraging.  Feedback ranged from “Very powerful” to “Educating the populace (as in presentations like this) is the first step in making a social change,” and “It was an important tool for awakening our awareness.”

These two community screenings represent an important component of the work we do at the Women’s Center in providing information and generating discussion to impact attitudes, values and behaviors relating to violence against women and girls, social justice and equality.

The more we educate community members on the causes of domestic abuse, sexual assault, child abuse and child sexual assault, the better chance we have of abandoning the behaviors that allow these crimes to exist.  Currently, sexual assault is more prevalent in the U.S. than smoking!  We’ve come a long way in influencing unhealthy behaviors related to smoking.  Now it’s time to extinguish behaviors that support a culture of violence against women—directly impacting the health and well-being of 1 in 4 American women.

Many thanks to our supporters who helped make the local screenings of this film possible: WRCNM 100 Men Campaign contributors, Zonta Club of Petoskey Area, Progressive Women of Charlevoix County and Charlevoix Area Zonta Club with support from Lakeview Dentistry, Mason & Kammermann and Central Drug Store.

We welcome those interested in having the Women’s Center facilitate small group or home screenings of Miss Representation to contact Dar Charlebois, WRCNM Community Prevention Educator, at (231) 347-1572.