The Pacific Lutheran University Men Against Violence program will present the conference “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: Men’s Role in Ending Violence Against Women” Thursday and Friday on the PLU campus.

It’s time for men to talk about this issue, about ending violence against women, said conference organizer and MAV program coordinator Jonathan Grove.

“The short answer is that men’s role in ending violence against women, or to work toward that, is to have a voice in it,” Grove said. “Historically, men have seen these as women’s issues.”

It’s unsettling that “50 percent of the population is not participating in the discussion,” Grove said, adding that conferences such as “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” are “a rarity.”

Grove said that less than 5 percent of the male population are perpetrators of rape and sexual assault.

“It’s a tremendously small number of men making us look bad repeatedly,” he said. “The other 95 percent of men need to start speaking up and saying that this is unacceptable.”

Sut Jhally, founder and executive director of the Media Education Foundation, will be the speaker in the keynote address at 7 p.m. Thursday in PLU’s Lagerquist Hall. Jhally monitors the depiction of violence against women in the entertainment media and he also makes documentaries on the topic.

The conference, which also includes Friday workshops, is limited to about 200 people, but the keynote address is open to about 500. The talk is free.

Conference registration is $79. To register or for information, go to www.plu.edu/mav.

Bill Hutchens: 253-597-8460