Working with Boys and Men

One increasingly visible expression of alternative masculinities around the globe is men’s involvement in efforts to prevent men’s violence against women. Men who take part in such efforts, for example, as activists or educators, take up projects of personal change as well as wider social change. They seek to be “the change they wish to see in the world,” working to undermine their own gender privilege and to act in gender-equitable and nonviolent ways. This chapter focuses on such men.

This book explores men's attraction to violent extremist movements and terrorism. (Download it free here.)

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.

Working Together with Men is an innovative violence prevention project based on community engagement and mobilisation. The project aims to contribute to the prevention of violence against women by engaging men to develop and implement primary prevention strategies in their local communities.

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.

This new report focuses on the need to make men visible as a target of public policy that aims to prevent and eradicate violence against women and to develop projects that promote alternative non-violent masculinities.

I want to start with the rationale for this work. Why are we trying to promote healthy masculinities? What is the problem?

To answer that, I have to start with gender.

Gender means…

I’m using the term ‘gender’ here for the patterns of men’s and women’s lives, boys’ and girls’ lives.

Gender means: the meanings we give to being male and female, and the social organisation of men’s and women’s lives.

Confronting and ending oppression against marginalised and minoritised peoples is at the heart of social justice-oriented social work practice. Developing a critical understanding of power and oppression, and enacting social change aimed at challenging structural factors that contribute to oppression are integral to the core mandates of social work profession (International Federation of Social Workers [IFSW], 2014). Different ways of challenging oppression are therefore of significant interest to social workers.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are often seen as the domain of women and girls’ health and well-being. Men and boys are considered important in SRHR, but mainly as partners, gatekeepers and policymakers. This paper argues that men and boys have their own sexual and reproductive health issues and concerns. Addressing men’s concerns benefits not only themselves, but the rippling effect through their partners and communities allows the achievement of SRHR for all.

The new book Engaging Boys and Men in Sexual Assault Prevention: Theory, Research and Practice explores sexual assault prevention programs for boys and men. The book presents leading-edge research on efforts to engage men and boys in the prevention of sexual violence. Written and edited by key scholars in the field, it is an essential volume for researchers, advocates, and educators.