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USA: Engaging Male Allies to End Violence Against Women

December 14, 2015 By Correspondent

Meghna Bhat, Chicago, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

A few months ago, I came across Emma Watson’s brave efforts to promote gender equality. Her interview with Malala Yousafzai highlighted the need to address feminism and how this movement should include men as allies. As Watson correctly pointed out, “Let’s not make it scary to say you’re a feminist. I want to make it a welcoming and inclusive movement. Let’s join our hands and move together so we can make real change. Malala and I are pretty serious about it but we need you.”

It’s our collective responsibility, especially male allies, to create awareness about gender violence, prevent and intervene this vicious cycle.

My experiences growing up with positive male role models/allies and Watson’s message resonates with the research and advocacy of Dr. Jackson Katz. He is an educator, author, filmmaker and cultural theorist who is a pioneer in the fields of gender violence prevention education and media literacy. His 2013 speech on TED talk titled, “Violence against women—it’s a men’s issue” showed that domestic violence and sexual abuse, which are often labeled as “women’s issues,” are often “intrinsically men’s issues” and he “shows how these violent behaviors are tied to definitions of manhood.”

According to a report by the New York State Department of Health, research has consistently shown that a majority of men are conflicted about violence against women. Most of these men may not even “recognize when it is happening nor know how to stop it”. Another factor that can make men defensive and doubtful of participating in the efforts to end gender violence is “treating [or stereotyping] males as potential perpetrators.”

There are many social service agencies and organizations promoting and practicing this model of engaging men as allies to prevent and intervene gender-violence. Have you watched the powerful documentary “The Mask You Live In” by The Representation Project? I highly recommend it. I have found this film to be educating, inspiring and an eye-opening experience that needs to be screened to our children and youth.

This film focuses on boys’ and young men’s struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America’s narrow definition of masculinity. Young children, especially boys, need to feel safe to be themselves and express their emotions without the fear of being bullied, labeled, mocked, or rejected by other children and adults. They must not feel pressured to fit within the problematic binary roles or other rigid frameworks of masculinity our society expects them to claim.

If you need further details of how these programs and agencies implement this model of engaging male allies or men as partners in combating gender violence, I have listed a few of the examples and resources that I have come across and found to be useful (including as teaching resources):

  1. Mentors in Violence Prevention: A program intended to create public awareness about men’s violence against women, challenge how the mainstream society thinks, and initiating community dialogues between men and women to identify long-term tangible options.
  1. Coaching Boys into Men: The only evidence-based prevention program designed to train high school coaches to teach their male athletes healthy relationship skills and that “violence never equals strength.”
  1. Men as Partners: At EngenderHealth, this program includes working with “men to play constructive roles in promoting gender equity and health in their families and communities”. Through their interactive skills -building workshops and enhanced health care facilities among other services, they strive to confront negative stereotypes about being men and provide men with quality care.
  1. Men Can Stop Rape: Works towards mobilizing men for creating cultures free from violence, especially men’s violence against women through their strengths and sustainable initiatives.
  1. Movement against Sexual Violence: At the University of Illinois at Chicago, I am fortunate to have colleagues who represent and lead the Men against Sexual Violence, now called as the Movement against Sexual Violence. This student group aims to engage and involve people, especially male-identified allies to join in the fight against sexual violence. Through their workshops such as ‘Reimagining Masculinity’ and events, they encourage us to challenge the negative stereotypes and images of gender roles. Although I haven’t got an opportunity to attend these events myself, I am looking forward to being a part of these important and powerful dialogues and community conversations next semester!

Dr. Katz calls out to all men and women to stand up and advocate for changes to end violence against women. He further raises these very critical questions that we all need to think about:

“How can we do something differently? How can we change the practices? How can we change the socialization of boys and the definitions of manhood that lead to these current outcomes? These are the kind of questions that we need to be asking and the kind of work that we need to be doing?”

If you want more ideas for what men can do to prevent gender violence, click here.

Meghna is a doctoral candidate in the Criminology, Law, and Justice program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, with a specialization in Gender and Women Studies. She is currently working on her dissertation, which focuses on representations of violence against women in a widely viewed form of Indian popular culture, Bollywood cinema.

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Filed Under: Advice, correspondents, male perspective, Resources Tagged With: engaging men, male allies, violence against women

16 Days: Human Rights Day (Day 16)

December 10, 2015 By HKearl

Today is Human Rights Day and also the final day of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. That’s because violence against women IS a human rights violation. Everyone should live lives from from violence.

Ministers and Deputy Ministers from 17 countries talk talk about violence against women in their country and what they will do about it.
Ministers and Deputy Ministers from 17 countries talk talk about violence against women in their country and what they will do about it.

For the last two days, I’ve had the honor to attend — and today present at — a global conference on ending violence against women (VAW) in Istanbul, Turkey, organized by UN agencies and the government of Turkey and timed to fall within the end of the 16 Days (there’s been lots of orange everywhere!).

Via UN Women’s website:

“The two-day meeting will be held 20 years after the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – Violence against Women, was adopted by 189 countries in 1995. Turkey, being the host of the international meeting, echoes the leading role the country has played as the first government to ratify the Istanbul Convention, which sets legally binding standards to prevent violence against women and girls, protect victims and punish perpetrators.

Meeting objectives include reviewing progress and challenges since the Beijing Declaration; sharing the latest data and good practices to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls; and, importantly in light of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in September 2015, to get fresh political commitments from Governments to end violence against women.”

UN estimates 300 people from around 70 countries attended. Ministers and deputy ministers of 17 countries attended and made statements of commitment to ending VAW.  We heard from the Prime Minister of Turkey yesterday and tonight at the closing reception, we heard from the mayor of Istanbul.

I took a lot of notes and will write about the highlights during my long flight home tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a UN write-up about the first day, yesterday, which includes this message:

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women

“Violence against women and girls remains one of the most widespread and tolerated violations of human rights – but it is not inevitable, and we can prevent it. We are here today to say that this is enough. Now is the moment for coherently executed, decisive action to eliminate violence against women and girls for good,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, at the opening session.

This evening at the closing reception, she said, “In the 19th century, the world abolished slavery. In the 20th century, we ended colonialism. Now, in the 21st century, we will end violence against women. It is an idea whose time has come.”

Yes, it has!

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Filed Under: 16 days, Events Tagged With: human rights day, Istanbul, turkey, United Nations, violence against women

Biden is right! 1 is 2 many

September 13, 2011 By HKearl

On the 17th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, VP Joe Biden (a co-author of the law) announced a new white house initiative called “1 is 2 Many” that focuses on ending violence against teens and young women ages 16-24 because they are the most vulnerable to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and dating violence.

I applaud these efforts and love the campaign name. One assault IS too many. It is unacceptable that anyone should perpetrate such hate and harm. We are a culture and country that prides itself on freedom, liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness, but when most girls face harassment and assault simply because they are female, where is their freedom, their liberty, their justice when they report it? How they can fully pursue happiness?

They cannot.

Our country will never be great until teens and young women stop facing sexual harassment and assault everywhere they go:

*from sexual harassment in schools (more than 8 in 10)
*and sexual assault in college (1 in 5)
* to harassment on the streets (nearly 90% of women face this by age 19)
* and in dating relationships (1 in 10).

    Most alarmingly, too many teens also experience the worst betrayal of trust: incest and abuse within their own homes, something I heard about all too often during my 2.5 years as an online hotline counselor for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

    These are very depressing statistics, especially considering the efforts of many organizations, people, and pieces of government legislation aimed at ending the violence.

    Focusing on prevention is still relatively new and I really appreciate that the white house campaign is focusing on prevention in their campaign. That is the only thing that will create sustainable change. The campaign page states:

    “By targeting the importance of changing attitudes that lead to violence and educating the public on the realities of abuse, the Vice President is leading the way in an effort to stop violence against women before it begins.”

    To start, they are soliciting ideas. They say:

    “As teens and young women across the country head back to school this month, tell us how you think we can make campuses safer for all students and share your ideas for preventing dating violence and sexual assault. From September 13th – the 17th anniversary of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act – to September 27th, use the form to submit your ideas, or use the hashtag #1is2many to share on Twitter.”

    So, share YOUR voice and ideas with the white house. Let us brainstorm and work together to figure out how we can make our society one where girls and women truly can be free and fully pursue happiness.

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    Filed Under: News stories Tagged With: 1is2many, joe biden, sexual assault, VAW, violence against women

    Book on Sexual Harassment Distributed at Egyptian Mosques

    July 4, 2009 By HKearl

    In an effort to raise awareness about the widespread problem of sexual harassment (including in public places – street harassment) in Egypt, Egypt’s Ministry of Endowments has published a book on the topic that will be distributed at local mosques around the country, targeted at Imams. Menassat.com reports:

    The book, titled ‘Sexual Harassment: Causes and Solutions,’ is co-written by Minister of Endowments Hamdi Zaqzouq and Salem Abdel Geleil, deputy minister of religious endowments….The book is to be distributed in mosques nationwide starting this week and reportedly discusses the definition of sexual harassment, motives behind it, and the occurrence of it in Egyptian society. But it apparently also brings up how some girls might be ‘asking for harassment’ by wearing revealing clothes or by their behavior, according to Daily News Egypt.”

    Let’s hope the last sentence  isn’t true…

    I hope the books will help, but I also wonder if there will be anyone holding the Imams accountable for reading the book and paying attention to what it says and helping to end the problem in their communities?

    Back in February I reported that members of Egypt’s parliament were expected to propose a law strengthening the penalties against sexual offenders (including street harassers) by increasing jail time and fines and put more pressure on police to stop incidents and take the concerns of the targets of such harassment more seriously. Menassat.com reports that women’s rights groups are still “lobbying before the Egyptian government to introduce a legislation that makes sexual harassment punishable under the law.” I hope they succeed!

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    Filed Under: News stories, street harassment Tagged With: Egypt, egypt's ministry of endowments, imams, mosques, sexual harassment, street harassment, violence against women

    Toronto Event Tommorrow for Young Women!

    May 29, 2009 By HKearl

    If you’re in Toronto and care about addressing street harassment & other violence against young women, check this out, via Shameless Magazine’s Blog:

    Making Noise Media Camp for Young Women
    For young women ages 14-25
    Saturday May 30
    rsvp: michelle cho, 416-703-6607 x 3
    michelle@urbanalliance.ca

    “Summer is almost here, and rates of violence always go up in the summer…we’re tired of being hollered at the in the streets and feeling unsafe, but want more creative ways of challenging gender violence.”

    “We’ve organized a media camp FOR THIS SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2009, to start to bring young women together to plan a summer campaign to challenge street harassment in Toronto using media they’ve created themselves. We want to talk about how violence is experienced differently by women of colour and how it is made invisible by the media or sensationalized to be solely about being because they do not fit into the “mainstream”.”

    Sounds great!

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    Filed Under: Administrator Tagged With: catcalling, sexual harassment, shameless magazine, street harassment conference, street harassment workshop, toronto, violence against women

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