Efforts to engage men and boys in preventing men’s violence against women are gaining momentum around the world. This has been prompted in part by a growing emphasis in the violence prevention field on primary prevention and the emergence of an ‘engaging men’ field focused on men’s roles in building gender equality.
Working with Boys and Men
This report informs Alberta’s next and exciting chapter of expanding work with men and boys to end violence and advance gender equality. It was written to support the Alberta Primary Prevention Framework Collaborative by providing clear and actionable strategies for Alberta’s anti-violence sector as well as the Government of Alberta.
We have organized the information into three evidence-informed sections.
The first section is the case for engaging men and boys along with foundational theories and approaches to help readers orient themselves in this work.
A new report entitled, ‘A More Generous Embrace’ from the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), GenCap and NORCAP explores how, when men are affected by armed violence, women and girls are also indirectly or directly victimized.
The Working with Men and Boys for Social Justice Assessment Tool is a new tool for assessing community programs for men and boys. It aims to provide leaders, designers and facilitators of programs or initiatives for men and boys the opportunity to review, reflect on and strengthen principles of gender and social justice. The Tool comprises key aspects that support positive social change in programs designed for men and boys.
One increasingly visible expression of alternative masculinities around the globe is men’s involvement in efforts to prevent men’s violence against women. Men who take part in such efforts, for example, as activists or educators, take up projects of personal change as well as wider social change. They seek to be “the change they wish to see in the world,” working to undermine their own gender privilege and to act in gender-equitable and nonviolent ways. This chapter focuses on such men.
This book explores men's attraction to violent extremist movements and terrorism. (Download it free here.)
There are various efforts to lessen and prevent the demand for prostitution / sex work or for other forms of commercial sex. Men are the vast majority of prostitution clients world-wide, and major actors in the organisation and management of prostitution.
XY includes materials focused on efforts to 'end demand', whether the demand for prostitution / sex work or for other forms of commercial sex. See e.g.
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Working Together with Men is an innovative violence prevention project based on community engagement and mobilisation. The project aims to contribute to the prevention of violence against women by engaging men to develop and implement primary prevention strategies in their local communities.
Engaging men and boys is a key strategy for preventing the perpetration of sexual violence. Whilst prevention efforts among men and boys are growing, they remain limited in scope and scale. The evidence base for the effectiveness of sexual violence prevention work with men and boys is also small, although increasing rapidly, and shows mixed impacts. The chapter argues that it is necessary for prevention initiatives to place a greater focus on the structural and cultural factors contributing to sexual violence.
This literature review was commissioned by Deloittes as part of its stocktake of sexual violence prevention in Australia. A condensed and revised version of this literature review was published as an Appendix in: Deloittes and M. Flood. (2020) Stocktake of Primary Prevention Initiatives in Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment. Sydney: Deloittes.