Violence

An ally is a member of a privileged group who acts to challenge or dismantle that same privilege. Ally politics involves members of privileged groups taking action to undermine that same privilege: white people challenging racism, heterosexual people challenging heterosexism and homophobia, and of course, men challenging sexism.

Key elements of male allyship therefore include the following.

There is growing interest in using online media among men and boys to prevent men’s violence against women and girls, prompted by two insights. First, such media may be effective ways to reach and educate large numbers of boys and men. Organisations such as schools and universities involved in violence prevention education are turning increasingly to online media as platforms for education on violence, gender, and healthy relationships, using these to deliver curricula to large cohorts of students and others.

The Men in focus practice guide from Our Watch is designed to support people to address masculinities and work with men in the prevention of men’s violence against women.

ARC Gender Relations is a primary prevention of violence project on Bundjalung Country in the Northern Rivers Region of NSW.

For men who begin to take action in their everyday lives to end violence against women, there are some common mistakes to avoid.

There are growing efforts to engage men and boys in preventing men’s violence against women in the Asia Pacific.

Changing Contexts: A Framework for Engaging Male-Oriented Settings in Gender Equality and Violence Prevention – Practitioners’ Guide was developed by Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence (Canada). It involves non-programmatic approaches to engaging men to enhance gender equality and prevent violence against women. The approach is intended to work effectively “in the middle space between program-based interventions and policy-based approaches”.

Efforts to engage men and boys in preventing men’s violence against women are gaining momentum around the world. This has been prompted in part by a growing emphasis in the violence prevention field on primary prevention and the emergence of an ‘engaging men’ field focused on men’s roles in building gender equality.

This report informs Alberta’s next and exciting chapter of expanding work with men and boys to end violence and advance gender equality. It was written to support the Alberta Primary Prevention Framework Collaborative by providing clear and actionable strategies for Alberta’s anti-violence sector as well as the Government of Alberta.

We have organized the information into three evidence-informed sections.

The first section is the case for engaging men and boys along with foundational theories and approaches to help readers orient themselves in this work.