Boys are welcome at Girl Fest Hawaii. Wanted, even.

"We've always been inclusive of men. But it's a little bit easier now because the community understands that we're an inclusive movement," Kathryn Xian said of the social service organization/arts festival whose mission is ending violence against women and girls through education and art.

"We're Girl Fest because that's our priority. But the equation to end violence against women also includes men and boys. That's why they're so important to us."

Girl Fest kicks off its third annual weeklong slate of film, music, art, spoken word, dance, conferences, workshops and lectures tonight. By enlisting diverse media and diverse personalities and genres within these media to offer education and positive representations of women, Girl Fest hopes to change the kind of peer and pop culture that has fostered what Xian described as apathy toward violence against women and girls.

"Girl Fest is a lot of things. We wear many hats," said Xian, who calls herself the nonexecutive director of the event. "We do a lot of public-awareness so it is an attention-raising organization. That's very important because women as well as men — young people, especially — need to learn that asking for help is not a bad thing. It's a strong step (and) show of strength. The perpetrators are the ones that should be ashamed.

"We try to teach that message through art, and just constantly trying to influence youth through various media."

This year, a men's panel discussion "Fathering Strength, Forgiving Fear" (6 p.m., Monday at The Center for Hawaiian Studies on the University of Hawai'i-Manoa campus, free) will address men's roles in ending rape, sexism, homophobia, misogyny and abuse of women and girls worldwide. Male musicians, artists, dancers, poets, filmmakers and speakers will also be involved in all aspects of Girl Fest programming.

Xian is happy to have them on board for Girl Fest's third go-round.

Fact is, "they're not enough," Xian said of the number of men involved. "We're lucky to get a lot of really good representations of men — especially men of color and men in the public eye — that are brave enough and secure enough, really, to speak out against it."

A complete and detailed listing of Girl Fest programming and workshops is available online at www.girlfesthawaii.org. All workshops and events (except for Girl Fest's closing night party) are for all ages.

Here are 10 Girl Fest events (outside of the fest's weeklong slate of informative workshops and panels) that you should check out: