AWID Resource Net Friday File

Association for Women's Rights in Development
Friday January 19, 2007

 

Part of the problem but part of the solution: what role can men play in
the challenge for gender equality?

How can men be allies in the fight for gender equality and women's rights?
This article canvasses the issues, the debate and ways that men can (and
whether they should) join the battle.

By Rochelle Jones - AWID

WOMEN'S BUSINESS?

There has been resounding international awareness and recognition,
accelerated by the Millennium Development Goals, that gender equality and
women's rights are key to development. What has emerged on the sidelines
however, is a growing debate on the value of including and encouraging the
engagement of men.

The conceptual shift in development discourse from 'Women in Development'
(WID) to 'Gender and Development' (GAD), reflected a recognition that
whilst there is a strong need for programs that focus on the specific
empowerment of women, gender relations between men and women are also an
important centre of analysis to reveal and address inequalities that
perpetuate the subjugation of women.

Engaging and working with men on issues of women's rights and empowerment
however, raises many uncertainties and concerns within feminist circles,
and there is a well-established debate as to whether and what extent men
should be involved in the accomplishment of women's rights and gender
equality. Indeed some questions raised "take us to the very heart of our
assumptions, understandings, politics and ideologies about gender equality,
even the very notion of gender... gender equality is not a fixed thing; it
is a shorthand for a very long term process of changing gender relations,
and making them more equal, more fair, more democratic, less oppressive and
less patriarchal. This involves changing men." [1]. But how can this be
achieved?

Oxfam argues that there are "uncertainties about working with men. Work
with men could be seen as a distraction from the fundamental work of
empowering women, or as an attempt by men to co-opt existing gender work
for their own purposes. It could divert (or seen to be diverting) resources
away from the empowerment of women, raising concerns in the current context
of shrinking development assistance" [2].

Similarly in a recent publication, BRIDGE have acknowledged "resistance on
the part of some women to involving men in gender and development work ?
driven by fears about the dilution of the feminist agenda, and by anxieties
over the diversion of limited resources away from women's empowerment
initiatives and back into the hands of men" [3].

Despite the uncertainties, more and more women's rights advocates agree
that engaging men in women's rights work is not merely acceptable, but
critical. Feminist activist and writer bell hooks asserts: "Without males
as allies in struggle, [the] feminist movement will not progress" [4].
>From high-profile INGOs to grassroots organisations, there is a powerful
(and increasing) undercurrent that getting men to take responsibility in
the fight against patriarchy can enhance the outcomes for women's rights
globally.

Unfortunately it is not simply a matter for women to allow men to take part
in the struggle, but a dearth of men willing to become involved. Many of
women's scepticisms about working with men stem directly from the fact that
some men are privileged by patriarchy, so why would they have a vested
interest in the empowerment of women? Resistance to the engagement of men
in gender equality strategies comes from both sides and is hence
multidimensional and complex.

WORKING TOGETHER

In the space where there is an absence of resistance, collaboration
flourishes. Increased recognition that men are not only part of the
problem, but part of the solution, has led to innovative praxis in the
field. Some of this work has been solely initiated by men, whilst
development organisations and women's rights groups have facilitated most
other projects.

As far back as 1993 men were organising to address violence against women
in Nicaragua. Shocked by the sheer scale of male violence, men mobilised to
address the issue of women's social justice and to "respond to men's
concerns of a 'socially imposed model that encouraged us to drink, fight,
dominate, and sexually conquer women'...By 1999 the group had organised
over 360 men in all-male workshops and two national conventions, leading to
the founding of the Nicaraguan Association of Men Against Violence
(Asociación de Hombres Contra la Violencia, or AHCV) in 2000" [5]. The AHCV
continues to conduct training workshops and courses for male youths,
adolescents and adults to explore and redefine the idea of machismo and
violence.

Contemporary grass-roots organisations similar to the AHCV now exist in far
greater numbers, and join male 'pro-feminist' academics in delivering the
message that "men have a vital role to play in improving relations between
the sexes" [6]. This has had a flow-on effect, and now key international
development agencies have taken up the mantle by recognising the
'engagement of men and boys' as a critical factor in promoting gender
equality. For example, the recently released 'State of the World's Children
2007' report published by UNICEF calls for "seven key interventions to
empower women". Two of those interventions are: 'women empowering women'
and 'engaging men and boys'.

An issue worth considering, however, is whether high-profile international
organisations, like the United Nations agencies, have endorsed and adopted
the strategy of engaging with men on issues of women's rights too early.
Like some gender mainstreaming policies, embracing such a complex terrain
in a technocratic manner without a proper understanding/analysis of power
relations and what it means to involve men, may be inappropriate. The
realities of concerns like this will unfold over time.

WHAT DOES THIS ENGAGEMENT LOOK LIKE?

BRIDGE has recently released an annotated bibliography of research into
different types of strategies to engage men and boys [3]. Research and case
studies in the bibliography come from South and Central Asia, Latin America
and the Caribbean, Africa, Muslim-majority countries, migrant communities
in Europe, and within large development organisations such as Oxfam and the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The breadth and depth of
information available demonstrates that men can be, and are, allies across
a plethora of issue areas that affect women:

* Men as partners against gender-based violence;
* Strengthening men's resistance to violence and conflict;
* Fostering constructive male involvement in sexual and reproductive health
and rights (including HIV/AIDS);
* Encouraging men's positive engagement as fathers and carers; and
* Promoting more gender-equitable institutional cultures and practices
within development organisations.

Types of strategies vary. There are support groups for male perpetrators;
police sensitisation to the barriers facing women in domestic violence
cases; gender-awareness training for men; and using drama to promote the
positive role men can play in the prevention of HIV/AIDS to name a few.

Indigenous organisations in Australia have long been engaging men and boys
on issues of family violence prevention and intervention. Rejecting the
term 'domestic' or 'gender-based' violence, 'family violence' is the
preferred language used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in
Australia, demonstrating their desire for both men and women to take
responsibility for the violence occurring in their communities. This
language shift has ensured that many programs directly target men, and
cater for their needs as well as the needs of women. Programs range from
father-son educational camps, perpetrator support groups, identity and
healing workshops for men, and community resource and advisory centres.

If we visualise a learning curve for women's rights work, engaging with men
in the journey towards gender equality will be positive. The coming years
will be critical, however, in terms of program evaluation outcomes and
further research into the positive and negative impacts this phenomenon is
having on women's rights work. "In a society that ascribes rigid codes of
socially acceptable behaviour to the categories man and woman, everyone
suffers the consequences" [4].

________________________________
Notes:

[1] Jeff Hearn 2001. Men and Gender Equality: Resistance, Responsibilities
and Reaching Out. Department of Applied Social Science, University of
Manchester, UK; and The Swedish School of Economics and Business
Administration, Helsinki, Finland.
www.ashanet.org/focusgroups/sanctuary/articles/Hearn_Men_and_Gender_Equality.doc

[2] Sandy Ruxton (Ed.) 2004. Gender Equality and Men. Published by Oxfam
GB. Available at:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/resources/geneqmen.htm

[3] Emily Esplen. 2006. Engaging Men in Gender Equality: Positive
Strategies and Approaches. BRIDGE (development ? gender), Institute of
Development Studies, University of Sussex.
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/bibliographies.htm

[4] Cited in Jenn Ruddy. 2006. Gender Mending: Men, Masculinity, and
Feminism: To what extent is it appropriate or possible for men who resist
patriarchy to participate in the feminist movement?
http://www.xyonline.net/Gendermending.shtml

[5] Quoted by Oswaldo Montoya of the Managua Men's Group Against Violence,
cited in: Gareth Richards, 2001. 'We're Not From Mars,' Nicaraguan Men
Against Violence Assert. Panos London.
http://www.panos.org.uk/global/featuredetails.asp?featureid=1040&ID=1005

[6] Michael Flood. 2001. Can men be feminists? Available from
http://www.xyonline.net/Canmenbefeminists.shtml

[7] Available from: http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/