Reviewing responsibilities and renewing relationships: an intervention with men on violence against women in India

Abstract

Violence against women is increasingly seen as a key women's rights issue in India. Some efforts to address it have started to engage men. The current study focuses on the impacts of Men's Action to Stop Violence Against Women (MASVAW), a network of men working on gender-based violence in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in India. The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which MASVAW activists incorporate gender-equitable attitudes and practices into their own lives and to identify their influence on men around them. The cross-sectional study includes three groups: activists, men living in an area where activists conducted outreach activities and a control group living in an area with no MASVAW activities. Both activists and activist influenced men scored higher on measures of gender-equitable beliefs and practices than controls, suggesting that MASVAW activism is successful. Furthermore, men from the activist influenced group scored higher in gender progressiveness even if they did not have contact with MASVAW themselves, suggesting a diffusion effect of social change. However, there were some areas where the activists had low scores, suggesting need for additional inputs.

Adolescent health: Priorities and opportunities for Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) in Uttar Pradesh

“…Pilot interventions in India, such as Do Kadam Barabari ki Ore in Bihar, that hold promise are: gender transformative life skills education, sports coaching to change attitudes towards violence, and training FLWs to identify and provide services for women at risk of violence. 3,4,5…”

Gender-Based Power and Couples’ HIV Risk in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, North India

“…Thus far, gender transformative HIV interventions, which focus on modifying gender roles in order to promote more gender-equitable relationships, have demonstrated promise at the individual level, resulting in reduction of HIV risk, but community-level interventions have yielded mixed results. 29,50–52 Our findings suggest ways to expand current research on gender-based power and HIV risk that may inform international and regional agencies' work at the community level. First, we found that examining multiple measures of gender-based power in a single study is worthwhile.…”

Masculinities and gender-based violence in South Africa: A study of a masculinities-focused intervention programme

“…A 2012 evaluation of MASVAW found that involvement in the programme was correlated with more progressive gender attitudes and behaviours in men (Das, Mogford, Singh, Barbhuiya, Chandra & Wahl, 2012). A review by Bhandari (2008) also found a number of positive self-reported impacts, including the fact that men who were MASVAW activists reported using less coercive sex, and had an awareness about the need for changing their attitudes towards women and violence.…”

“…These often show a positive impact on specific behaviours, as well as contributing to improvements in participants' attitudes towards gender equality (Das, Mogford, Singh, Barbhuiya, Chandra & Wahl, 2012). This suggests that these masculinities-focused interventions can have a positive effect on beliefs and behaviours linked to GBV.…”