What actions are needed to drive the engagement of men and boys in combating online gender-based violence? In these notes prepared for a UN Women event in Seoul, Korea, Professor Flood offers recommendations for programming and research to drive the engagement of men and boys in reducing and preventing online gender-based violence
Programming:
- Include in generic guidance on violence prevention content on the need to engage men and boys, and strategies for doing so. (See below.) That is, encourage organisations and advocates involved in developing strategies to reduce and prevent OGBV to include a stream of activity aimed at men and boys. Explain the rationale for this, provide examples of relevant strategies, and direct them to resources.
- Statements of the need to engage men and boys as part of this work, and articulations of the principles that can guide this. (See e.g. the first paragraph of this book chapter.)
- Examples of strategies or initiatives aimed at men and boys and guides to prevention practice among men and boys. (See e.g. these guides.)
- Develop bystander intervention campaigns aimed at OGBV, that include content focused on men’s and positive roles in encouraging respectful and gender-equitable cultures and communities online, including e.g. in gaming. (See e.g. the video materials here and here.)
- Develop social norms campaigns, intended to foster pro-social social norms and to challenge patriarchal masculine norms of sexism and sexual objectification. These might depict ordinary men and boys behaving in pro-social and gender-equitable lways, or include the use of high-profile men (sporting heroes, musicians, YouTubers, etc.) providing positive messaging aimed at boys and men. (See Chapter 7 of the book free here.)
- Develop materials on sex, sexuality, and relationships aimed at boys and men, that provide age-appropriate, feminist-informed, and positive guidance on these areas. These materials should be based on principles of gender equity, consent, and justice, and should be intended to address boys’ and men’s needs for information on sex, sexuality, and relationships. Such materials also can be used to ‘inoculate’ boys and men against patriarchal and violence-supportive messages visible in pornography and other media.
- Include in community mobilisation efforts strategies aimed at engaging men and boys. For example, in grassroots campaigns in communities, workplaces, or other organisations, include efforts to identify and mobilise male allies, to engage male leaders and gatekeepers, to involve men in advocacy groups and networks with women, and so on. (See Chapter 8 of the book free here.)
- Develop strategies aimed at redirecting men and boys from participation in misogynist and anti-feminist online communities, and support programmes and counter-narratives among men and boys already at risk of misogynist radicalisation. (See the book chapter here.)
Research
- Conduct research on men’s and boys’ perpetration of OGBV. That is, do not collect data only on the extent of victimisation, but on the extent of perpetration. Document what proportions of men and boys have perpetrated OGBV, what kinds of OGBV they have perpetrated, the motivations for perpetration, and so on.
- (See The State of Knowledge Report on Violence Perpetration for examples of research on perpetration.)
- Conduct research on the intersections of men and boys, masculinities, and OGBV. For example, collect data among boys and men on their masculine attitudes (using standard measures of these, such as the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory or “Man Box” scales), their knowledge of and attitudes and OGBV, and ideally their behaviour in relation to OGBV (whether and how they’ve perpetrated it, and their bystander action and non-action).
- This research would extend existing scholarship documenting associations between men’s harmful masculine attitudes and their perpetration of domestic and sexual violence. (See pp. 36-38 of this report.)
- Conduct research on the drivers of or risk factors for OGBV perpetration.
- For example, some research finds that male-male or homosocial dynamics – boys’ and men’s relations with their peers – are central in explaining boys’ and young men’s perpetration of OGBV.
- This research also could examine the influence of particular online communities, networks, or spaces, and how they may encourage climates of tolerance for OGBV.
- Include in such research, examination of why some boys and men do not perpetrate OGBV. That is, also examine protective factors, that may OGBV perpetration less likely.
- Conduct research on the effectiveness of online-based strategies aimed at men and boys and intended to prevent and reduce OGBV.
- (See the book chapter here for discussion of existing research:.)
- Explore how to appeal to men and boys, the kinds of messaging and messengers that are effective, and so on. (For existing research, see Chapter 5 of the book free here.)
For more on this UN Women event, see this media release.
Citation: Flood, M. (2023). Prevention of Online Gender-Based Violence through Boys’ and Men’s Engagement. Cross-country learning on empowering youth to address online gender-based violence, UN Women, August 22-24 2023, Seoul, Korea