Context, Challenges, and Tensions in Global Efforts to Engage Men in the Prevention of Violence against Women: An Ecological Analysis
- PMID: 25568612
- PMCID: PMC4283930
- DOI: 10.1177/1097184X12472336
Context, Challenges, and Tensions in Global Efforts to Engage Men in the Prevention of Violence against Women: An Ecological Analysis
Abstract
As gender-based violence prevention programs around the world increasingly include efforts to engage men and boys as antiviolence allies, both the profound benefits and the inherent complexities of these efforts are emerging. Acknowledging and exploring tensions associated with engaging men is an important element of thoughtfully fostering men's antiviolence ally movements so as to both respectfully invite men into anti-violence work and create effective, gender-equitable prevention programming. To this end, this study presents descriptive findings regarding challenges associated with men's engagement programming from in-depth interviews with twenty-nine representatives of organizations that engage men and boys in preventing violence against women and girls in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North and South America. Programs reported negotiating complex issues related to gender, the intersectional nature of men's identities, and establishing legitimacy and sustainability within communities while maintaining ideological focus and consistency. Additionally, programs reported that these tensions manifest across ecological layers of analysis, and impact both the participation of individual men and the programs' experiences in community and national contexts.
Keywords: engaging men; globalization; prevention; violence against women.
Conflict of interest statement
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Similar articles
-
Gender Transformative Approaches to Engaging Men in Gender-Based Violence Prevention: A Review and Conceptual Model.Trauma Violence Abuse. 2018 Apr;19(2):231-246. doi: 10.1177/1524838016650191. Epub 2016 May 18. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2018. PMID: 27197533 Review.
-
Strategies to Engage Men and Boys in Violence Prevention: A Global Organizational Perspective.Violence Against Women. 2015 Nov;21(11):1406-25. doi: 10.1177/1077801215594888. Epub 2015 Jul 22. Violence Against Women. 2015. PMID: 26202155 Free PMC article.
-
"How can I not?": men's pathways to involvement in anti-violence against women work.Violence Against Women. 2010 Aug;16(8):953-73. doi: 10.1177/1077801210376749. Violence Against Women. 2010. PMID: 20679189 Free PMC article.
-
Getting men in the room: perceptions of effective strategies to initiate men's involvement in gender-based violence prevention in a global sample.Cult Health Sex. 2017 Sep;19(9):979-995. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2017.1281438. Epub 2017 Feb 21. Cult Health Sex. 2017. PMID: 28276920
-
Life Course and Socioecological Influences on Gender-Equitable Attitudes Among Men: A Scoping Review.Trauma Violence Abuse. 2022 Jul;23(3):764-777. doi: 10.1177/1524838020977140. Epub 2020 Dec 3. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2022. PMID: 33267742
Cited by
-
Engaging men in gender transformative work in institutions of higher learning: A case of the men's hub at Makerere University.Front Sociol. 2023 Feb 15;7:901049. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2022.901049. eCollection 2022. Front Sociol. 2023. PMID: 36875539 Free PMC article.
-
Promoting Positive Masculinities to Address Violence Against Women: A Multicountry Concept Mapping Study.J Interpers Violence. 2023 May;38(9-10):6523-6552. doi: 10.1177/08862605221134641. Epub 2022 Dec 7. J Interpers Violence. 2023. PMID: 36475434 Free PMC article.
-
A cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of SAFE on spousal violence against women and girls in slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh.PLoS One. 2018 Jun 14;13(6):e0198926. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198926. eCollection 2018. PLoS One. 2018. PMID: 29902217 Free PMC article.
-
Exploring Readiness for Change: Knowledge and Attitudes towards Family Violence among Community Members and Service Providers Engaged in Primary Prevention in Regional Australia.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Oct 30;16(21):4215. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16214215. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019. PMID: 31671688 Free PMC article.
-
Beyond 'working with men and boys': (re)defining, challenging and transforming masculinities in sexuality and health programmes and policy.Cult Health Sex. 2015;17 Suppl 2(sup2):S85-95. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2015.1092260. Cult Health Sex. 2015. PMID: 26680534 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
References
-
- Atherton-Zeman B. Minimizing the damage - male accountability in stopping men’s violence against women. A Journal of the Battered Women’s Movement. 2009 Spring;:8–13.
-
- Black MC, Basile KC, Breiding MJ, Smith SG, Walters ML, Merrick MT, Chen J, Stevens MR. The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Summary Report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2011.
-
- Berkowitz AD. Working with Men to Prevent Violence against Women: An Overview. [Accessed March 19, 2012];VAWnet: National Online Resource Center on Violence against Women. 2004 http://www.vawnet.org/applied-research-papers/?type=Prevention.
-
- Bronfenbrenner U. The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1979.
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Research Materials