Health

There is growing evidence that HIV/STI and violence risk for both young men and young women is linked to early socialization that promotes certain gender roles. The Horizons Program and Instituto Promundo examined the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve young men's attitudes toward gender norms and to reduce HIV/STI risk.

Gender equality has long been synonymous with women and their struggle for economic independence, equal pay, and equal power. It has also been a key principle in eliminating oppression and violence.

However, gender equality is about both men and women. Men spend less time together with their own children, are more prone to accidents, are over-represented in crime statistics, and drop out more often from upper secondary education. These examples indicate that men would have much to gain from true gender equality. Men are under-represented in the teaching professions in preschools and schools, in nursing and children's social services. At the same time, men still sit in the majority of positions of power in society and they still make more money than women. It is mainly men who are the perpetrators of domestic violence.

In recent years there have been positive changes in the role of males in society. It has been almost 20 years since the Committee on Male Roles in 1991 presented its recommendations. The Committee on Male Roles pointed out the following goals: the reallocation of power between women and men, more time for fathers to care for their own children both before and after a family breakup, reduced gender differences in choice of education and training and the prevention of men's violence against women; all of these were to be central goals for the future work towards gender equality. In several areas the development in the period has been positive. In particular, there is reason to look at the development in the home, and the increased contact between fathers and their children. In other areas, however, the development has been stagnant or negative. While women have entered previous male arenas in the working life, there has not been any increase in employment of men in the health and care giving sectors. In the education sector men constitute a smaller group today than 15 years ago. Consequently, there is reason to reiterate the goals stated by the committee.

ISSUE: Four Latin American NGOs have collaborated with PROMUNDO Institute (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) since 1998 to call greater attention to the needs and realities of young men ages 15-24 in sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and gender violence prevention, and to engage them in HIV/AIDS prevention.

This new report is the most comprehensive resource available on men's sexual and reproductive behavior and needs, encompassing men in 45 developing and developed countries from sexual initiation through marriage and parenthood.

See below for the report in PDF. Or see here for versions in Spanish.

An in-depth examination of men's sexual and reproductive health brings together national research findings to document the sexual and reproductive needs of men in their own right—as individuals and not simply as women's partners.

See below for the report in PDF. Or see here for versions in Spanish.

From the executive summary - "The focus of this 2000 Technical Report and Policy Paper...is on a gender perspective in sexual and reproductive health, and on finding constructive ways to build partnership between men and women....Just as family planning and the pill were revolutionarey 50 years ago, building partnerships with men in areas such as sexuality, reproductive intentions, new gender roles, fatherhood and conflict resolution is the revolution occuring at the start of the 21st century...

What immediately follows is from the book Love and Pornography (2009). (See the previous post for more.)

The Movement of Men Against AIDS In Kenya (MMAAK) is launching a new publication at the forthcoming ICASA in Abuja. "Men can make a difference" is part of MMAAK's important work in challenging men's role in both the spread and prevention of HIV.

This brochure highlights key resources for working with men and provides a framework for distinguishing among the varied programmes, research and tools that are available. The framework reflects different approaches to such work: men are viewed as “clients” (focusing on men's own reproductive health needs), as ”partners” (focusing on promoting men's central roles in supporting women's health), or as “agents of positive social change” (focusing on engaging men in the promotion of gender equity).