Working with Boys and Men

... While the concept of Gender Equality is not new, what is relatively new is the concerted effort to revisit men's roles and identities in order to significantly increase men's involvement in gender equal societies. The current policy brief aims to present key rationales, identify principal challenges, and recommend actionable strategies for engaging boys, young and adult men in efforts to achieve gender equality. The goal of the policy brief is to provide policy makers, practitioners, business and the civil society leaders with a framework for developing strategies, implementing programs, and evaluating progress of engaging men in gender equality efforts in all spheres of life.

Compared with women, men - especially young men - are overwhelmingly involved in all types of violence. Cultural ideas about what it means to be a man often support this violence. But that is not to say that violence is a natural condition for men, or a natural part of being a man. Men are taught to use violence and at times are encouraged to use it. This paper was prepared for a 2003 UNESCAP Sub-regional Training Workshop on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in Partnership with Men.

Emerging programme approaches hold promise in changing gender norms and behaviours among boys and young men, according to this four-page piece from YouthNet, published in 2005.

This 212-page report is an outcome of an expert conference on gender equality under Finland’s Presidency , held in 2006 in Helsinki and focused on men and gender equality. The aim of the conference was to enhance the handling of issues related to men and gender equality as a part of the EU’s gender equality policy. A further aim was to boost the interest in treating men and gender equality as a separate theme in member states’ gender equality policies.

The report includes discussion of four themes:
men’s role in dismantling segregation in education and training,

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...

This publication provides an overview of a three-day workshop on 'Strengthening partnership with men and boys to promote gender equality and end violence against girls and boys’, organised by Save the Children Sweden-Denmark, Regional Office for South Central Asia on 23-25 March in Kathmandu. Around thirty participants from the region met and shared their practical experiences of and theoretical insights into working with men and boys on issues (masculinities that promote gender equality and non-violence towards children and women). They also developed strategies and concrete action plans for increasing partnership with men/boys to address violence against girls and boys and for promoting gender equality from a child rights based approach.

This 72-page publication by the Interagency Gender Working Group (IGWG), highlights three programmes that have engaged men and boys in efforts to improve reproductive health outcomes for both men and women. Though planned and implemented in different geographic regions within different cultural contexts, these programmes share a number of features. All three evolved and developed during the process of implementation and continue to evolve as they continue to work within their respective communities.