Adapting a Global Gender-Transformative Violence Prevention Program for the U.S. Community-Based Setting for Work with Young Men

Abstract

Extensive practice-based evidence from international settings, as well as in-depth evaluations of programs promoting gender equity, have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing perpetration of violence against women and girls. Such "gender-transfor-mative programs" encourage critical analysis of gender norms, challenge homophobia and gender-based harassment, build skills to question harmful masculine norms, interrupt harmful and disrespectful behaviors, and encourage more equitable behaviors. Here we describe the history of a gender-transformative program, "Program H," first developed in Brazil and Mexico, the rationale for and evaluation of this original program, and the processes of adaptation for the US urban community-based setting, and highlight the risks as well as opportunities on the work with young men and boys in the future.

Effect of a Community-Based Gender Norms Program on Sexual Violence Perpetration by Adolescent Boys and Young Men

“…Some prespecified measures (retained per protocol), including gender attitudes and condom use self-efficacy, had lower internal consistency with this sample than reported in a 2019 study. 10 The intensity-adjusted analysis may have selection bias. Additionally, changes in how much abusive behavior by peers these participants witnessed over time may have affected participants’ opportunities to report positive or negative bystander behaviors.…”

“…Manhood 2.0 was the first US adaptation of Program H, a gender-transformative curriculum for adolescent boys and young men in Brazil. 10 , 11 Modifications to produce Manhood 2.0, described in detail elsewhere, 10 , 11 included addition of content on racial justice, social media, and pornography.…”

Advancing Theory, Methods, and Dissemination in Sexual Violence Research to Build a More Equitable Future: An Intersectional, Community-Engaged Approach

“…Building-level interventions in middle and high schools (e.g., Shifting Boundaries) have shown promise in reducing sexual violence victimization and perpetration by focusing on shifting school climates through monitoring abusive behavior and “hot spot mapping” to identify where students feel safe or unsafe (Taylor, Stein, Mumford, & Woods, 2013). Evidence from global settings highlights the utility of gender-transformative sexual violence prevention programs that employ community change campaigns and promote gender equity; evaluations of such programs in the United States are underway (Kato-Wallace et al, 2019).…”

Longitudinal Curricular Assessment of Knowledge and Awareness of Intimate Partner Violence among First-Year Dental Students

“…These efforts may contribute, in part, to a larger focus on the development and implementation of IPV prevention programs that are being created in different and varied settings to address these important issues [ 13 , 14 ]. For example, community-based programs have been developed that demonstrate significant progress may be possible with significant input and feedback from victims, abusers, as well as the healthcare professional providers and prevention teams [ 15 , 16 ]. In addition, these efforts have found models among refugee and humanitarian missions that clearly demonstrate these types of approaches may provide significant benefits and might be well placed for integration into medical and healthcare education and curricula to improve knowledge, awareness, and willingness to engage in these critical areas [ 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”