A CONFERENCE is set to take place in Dorset to raise awareness of violence against men.

The event is taking place to mark International Men’s Day and follows on from a similar conference in 2015 which looked at how society can tackle violence against women.

The conference, which is funded by the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner and takes place on Monday, November 14, aims to raise awareness of gender identity and stereotypes, domestic and sexual abuse, and transgender issues. One in six men will suffer from domestic abuse at some point in their life, with men twice as like to not report the abuse to anyone.

This year’s headline guest speaker is Kellie Maloney, formerly known as Frank Maloney, who came to prominence as a flamboyant boxing manager and promoter. Kellie made the brave decision to reveal that she is now living as a woman, and has already taken great strides in promoting a greater awareness and understanding of transgender issues.

International Men’s Day takes place across the world on November 19 and delegates at the Dorset event at the Lighthouse in Poole will be asked to consider what action we can all take against some of the key issues affecting men and boys, including our collective tolerance of violence against men and boys, gender stereotypes in today’s society and the high male suicide rate. Figures released by The Samaritans in May this year suggest that suicide rates in men in the UK and the Republic of Ireland are more than three times higher than in women.

Other guest speakers include journalist and TV presenter Martin Daubney, who will be speaking about ‘porn safeguarding’ and pornography’s role in sexual consent for young people. CEO of SurvivorsUK Keith Best will be speaking about supporting male survivors of rape and sexual abuse, and chairman of Mankind Mark Brooks will be joined on stage by domestic abuse survivor Ian McNichol to tell his story of domestic abuse at the hands of his ex-wife.

The conference has been organise by the Safer Poole Partnership, in association with AFC Bournemouth.

For enquiries and information email the conference organisers at safer@poole.gov.uk. The conference will open at 9:15am for a 9:45 start, and runs until 1:45pm.