Getting men in the room: perceptions of effective strategies to initiate men’s involvement in gender-based violence prevention in a global sample

Abstract

As engaging men in gender-based violence prevention efforts becomes an increasingly institutionalised component of gender equity work globally, clarity is needed about the strategies that best initiate male-identified individuals' involvement in these efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived relevance and effectiveness of men's engagement strategies from the perspective of men around the world who have organised or attended gender-based violence prevention events. Participants responded to an online survey (available in English, French and Spanish) and rated the effectiveness of 15 discrete engagement strategies derived from earlier qualitative work. Participants also provided suggestions regarding strategies in open-ended comments. Listed strategies cut across the social ecological spectrum and represented both venues in which to reach men, and the content of violence prevention messaging. Results suggest that all strategies, on average, were perceived as effective across regions of the world, with strategies that tailor messaging to topics of particular concern to men (such as fatherhood and healthy relationships) rated most highly. Open-ended comments also surfaced tensions, particularly related to the role of a gender analysis in initial men's engagement efforts. Findings suggest the promise of cross-regional adaptation and information sharing regarding successful approaches to initiating men's anti-violence involvement.

The contradictory possibilities of engaging men and boys in the prevention of men’s violence against women in the UK

“…Within their experiences of the practice of engaging men, one of the biggest challenges that participants described was that of getting men and boys 'in the room' in the first place (Casey et al, 2017a). José stated that: "I mean men don't flock to this campaign, they're not knocking our door down."…”

Concept Mapping: Engaging Urban Men to Understand Community Influences on Partner Violence Perpetration

“…However, despite this evidence implicating community-level factors in IPV perpetration, very few studies have engaged male perpetrators of IPV in an effort to understand the comprehensive dynamics of an impoverished, urban environment. Furthermore, specific community attributes that contribute to male perpetration of IPV are not widely present in the literature perhaps due to challenges in recruiting this population for research [41]. To date, many of the research studies conducted among male IPV perpetrators have been grounded in the clinical psychology and criminology disciples and have focused on factors such as mental health and recidivism [42][43][44][45].…”

‘Locker room talk’: male bonding and sexual degradation in drinking stories

“…The men did not consider themselves to be sex offenders, but they often had a number of implicit and explicit attitudes towards rape, reinforced by the initial agreement of the woman to participate in sex acts (Nunes, Hermann, and Ratcliffe 2013). Through such mechanisms, sexual violence may be normalised (Hlavka 2014), and such men be the target of prevention efforts (Casey et al 2017).…”