Stanford Miaro, a first-year criminology student, was one of seven recipients of community awards at Crime Prevention Ottawa’s 2015 Community Safety Awards held on Nov. 2.
Miaro was nominated by one of his high school teachers for his efforts in demonstrating “real leadership toward positive masculinity and ending violence against women” through his organization ManUp, according to Nancy Worsfold, the executive director at Crime Prevention Ottawa.
“I believe Stanford is the youngest winner we’ve ever had,” Worsfold said, as the winners of the youth category have typically been in their twenties.
ManUp is a project that aims to make men more aware of violence against women, especially in high school.
“I was just doing what I believe is the right thing,” Miaro said in a Facebook message. “Which is changing the treatment of women in our societies, and the fact that I got recognition for that means a lot.”
Miaro said he chose to study criminology at Carleton because it has a connection to ManUp, and hopes the program will help him find a future career path.
Worsfold said the community safety awards reward people who take responsibility for keeping other people safe.
“Safety is a collective responsibility of all of society. People have a tendency to think ‘well, it’s the police’s problem,’ but really the police can’t keep us safe—everyone needs to keep each other safe,” Worsfold said. “What we’re seeking to do . . . with the community safety awards is to celebrate the accomplishments of people like Stanford who have made significant contributions to the safety” of a community.
“You need to feel safe in order to learn, you need to be safe in order to participate fully in the community,” Worsfold said. “So safety is a basic human need, and therefore is important.”
Miaro said he is not interested in fighting crime more than just setting an example for others in his community.
“I don’t necessarily go around looking for crime to stop . . . because I am not a superhero that fights crime,” Miaro said. “I just want to show other men, young and old, the ways we should be treating women in our society.”
Worsfold said she believes Ottawa has a low crime rate because of the willingness of residents to step up and keep each other safe.
“You maintain a low crime rate by engaging people positively,” Worsfold said.
While Miaro said he thinks “just spreading a positive message to others around you is enough to get involved in crime prevention.”
Worsfold said Miaro got the award in large part because of his willingness to be a positive change in the community.
“Violence against women and gender-based violence are important issues and it is so important that young men like Stanford stand up and say ‘I want to be part of a solution,’” she said.
