Sexualities

There are various efforts to lessen and prevent the demand for prostitution / sex work or for other forms of commercial sex. Men are the vast majority of prostitution clients world-wide, and major actors in the organisation and management of prostitution.

XY includes materials focused on efforts to 'end demand', whether the demand for prostitution / sex work or for other forms of commercial sex. See e.g.

Engaging men and boys is a key strategy for preventing the perpetration of sexual violence. Whilst prevention efforts among men and boys are growing, they remain limited in scope and scale. The evidence base for the effectiveness of sexual violence prevention work with men and boys is also small, although increasing rapidly, and shows mixed impacts. The chapter argues that it is necessary for prevention initiatives to place a greater focus on the structural and cultural factors contributing to sexual violence.

Unpacking the Man Box is based on a survey of 1,000 young Australian men aged 18 to 30. The report builds on the findings of The Men’s Project’s 2018 report The Man Box.

The initial Man Box report found that young Australian men who believe in outdated masculine stereotypes were themselves at higher risk of using violence, online bullying and sexual harassment, engaging in risky drinking and reporting poorer levels of mental health.

This paper (2008) explores possible linkages between masculinities and different forms of sexual exploitation and sexual violence. Specifically, it seeks to answer the question: How do prevailing norms and views of manhood, or masculinities, contribute to some men’s use of sexual violence, and the “demand-side” of sexual exploitation?

Available in English and Spanish, here.

How do men respond to women’s rejections of them, including sexual rejections? While most respond in appropriate ways, some respond with hostility and abuse, and this is shaped by common norms of masculinity and male sexuality.

There was substantial media attention in mid-March to the reactions of right-wing media personality Piers Morgan to member of the British royal family and former actress Megan Markle. I was approached to give media commentary, and put together the following notes.

It is 25 years since the Fourth World Conference on Women and its adoption of the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. For all of those who are committed to the visions of gender equality, human rights and social justice expressed in the Beijing Platform for Action and subsequent international declarations and agreements, 2020 was to have been a year of taking stock of progress made and debating priorities and strategies to advance towards these visions.

NOTE: Now also see the 5-page Policy Brief, summarising this report and released in November 2021, available here.

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When I was a child I thought everyone had a penis.

Or dumdeedle, as our family called them, a name that indicates the awkwardness that hung around male sexuality.

How healthy is sexuality in Australia? What counts as ethical sex? The two most common frameworks here are the Christian framework and a secular, libertarian framework, and we need to go beyond both, towards a more robust framework for an ethical sexuality.

Achieving gender equality must, and has, involved efforts to understand the vulnerabilities and risks that adolescent girls and young women face every day – but how much do we know about the realities of adolescent boys and young men? This report takes a deeper look at the daily lives of adolescent boys and young men around the world and at how they can join the movement towards improved health and gender equality.