Working with Boys and Men

In efforts to prevent men’s violence against women, there is a growing emphasis on the need to engage men. Men are becoming involved as participants in education programs, audiences for social marketing, activists and advocates, community leaders, and policy makers. First then, what does this ‘engaging men’ field look like? Second, what are its achievements and what are its limitations or dangers? This field is one instance of a wider ‘turn to men’ in gender politics, an increasing emphasis on the roles that men can play in building gender equality.

Here is a handy guide to five key steps in organising men to stop violence against women.

What are the best practices to promote men’s involvement in SRH while simultaneously promoting gender equality? Published by Sonke Gender Justice Network, this report argues that engaging men in SRH and gender equality can lead to better SRH outcomes for men and women, and prevent reinforcing male power over reproductive and sexual decision-making. A conceptual model that can be used for programming, monitoring and evaluation to engage men in SRH and gender equality including men as clients, partners and agents of positive change is provided.

The purpose of this paper is to provide practical guidance to policymakers and program managers on how to engage men and address harmful male norms in seven key areas of intervention in relation to HIV/AIDS: 1 Social and Behaviour Change in Men; 2 Violence against women; 3 Men, Sex Work and Transactional Sex; 4 Men, Substance abuse and HIV/AIDS; 5 Male Circumcision; 6 Men, VCT and Treatment; 7 Male Norms and the Caregiving for People Living with and Affected by HIV/AIDS.

Efforts to engage men in preventing men’s violence against women are gaining momentum around the world. Men are becoming involved as participants in education programs, audiences for social marketing, activists and advocates, community leaders, and policy makers. First then, what do we know about effective practice in engaging men in violence prevention? What works, and what doesn’t? Second, what are the challenges and controversies of this work?

The Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) "2014 Current Practices and Challenges: Engaging Men on Campus" provides insight into how 2014 OVW Campus Program grantees fostered men as allies in the prevention of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. The assessment also provides effective theories and comprehensive steps to engage men in prevention.

If you are interested in reading the assessment, you can download it at:
http://changingourcampus.org/application/files/6714/5927/8564/2014-Men-…

What are the impacts of pornography exposure or consumption among children and young people? And what can be done about it? These questions are the focus of an Australian Government enquiry, "Harm being done to Australian children through access to pornography on the Internet". In the submission here, Dr Michael Flood summarises the research evidence and outlines key strategies for preventing and limiting harm.

The EMERGE (Engendering Men: Evidence on Routes to Gender Equality) project has produced a new policy briefing which makes the case for re-framing policy on gender equality in order to more productively factor in men and boys, and suggests actions and approaches that policy makers can take to do this. The briefing, along with an accompanying practice brief and a conceptual framing paper, is available here.
 

What happens when men are the subjects of research? Gender and other forms of social difference are performed and negotiated in part through face-to-face interactions, including through such research methods as interviews and focus groups. When men or women conduct gender-conscious research with male research subjects, a host of issues are raised: practical, political, and epistemological. This chapter explores three dimensions of face-to-face research among men.

White Ribbon New Zealand has recently developed Start With Respect, a new resource for young men that gives tips on how to start a respectful relationship with women.

It is available from http://whiteribbon.org.nz/2016/02/14/start-with-respect/

This is a free, public resource and can be used in many different settings - please distribute it out and use it to prevent sexual violence and promote positive male behaviour.