What a Man Said About Domestic Violence

By Marci Shatzman

Longtime sponsor Anne Vegso was a greeter and chaired this year’s 18^th “Heart of a Woman” luncheon to raise funds for services and prevention through AVDA, formerly known as Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse.

In just one year, AVDA has helped 169 women, 138 kids, and even 14 pets in emergency shelters; answered 2,397 hotline calls; provided 10 women and 15 children with Casa Vegso transitional housing, and conducted 340 prevention sessions to 6,142 kids. And that’s just part of their services.

“Domestic violence is epidemic in this country,” said CBS12 anchor Liz Quirantes, who emceed and introduced AVDA’s longtime president and CEO Pam O’Brien. “Promoting violence-free relationships is critical,” O’Brien said. “We have eight families with us now,” in transitional housing. whose grants may no longer be available. “We’re reaching out to other funders,” she added.

Most of the previous keynote speakers were women who have overcome domestic violence, but this year it was Jason Page, senior director of National Programs MSCR, formerly known as Men Can Stop Rape. “There’s room for men to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with women who do this work.” His program redefines what masculinity means “to highlight healthy relationships,” he said.

He learned how to listen to athletes talk about girls, without intervening. It was a wakeup call. Then he did an exercise with the AVDA audience on how women were taught to prevent sexual assaults, like not accepting drinks. “What are men taught? Nothing. That’s the problem. You can check all the boxes, but it’s not foolproof. We need men to know…how we do we hold each other accountable?”

This year’s AVDA honorees included Thompson Auguste, whose videography company does PSAs for AVDA, where he started volunteering in the Commit to Change program as a 10^th grader. Also honored was Palm Beach County Youth Services Department, for their Commit to Change curriculum and initiatives that help young people have healthy relationships.

Among AVDA board members there were Sharyl Jennaro and Highland Beach Police Chief Craig Hartmann. Familiar AVDA sponsors and supporters in the crowd at Woodfield Country Club in Boca Raton were Dr. Heidi Schaeffer, a 2024 honoree; Marta Batmasian and the luncheon’s honorary chair Rosemary Krieger.

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