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Summary: Save the Children Sweden-Denmark,
Bangladesh brought together 35 participants
who are staff, partners and like minded
organisations from across the country to a
workshop on how to work with men and boys
to end gender based violence. The workshop
was held from 7–8 August, in Dhaka.
Save the Children Sweden-Denmark, Bangladesh (SCSD) brought together
about 35 participants who are staff, partners (ACD, ASK, BITA, BNWLA,
CSID, INCIDIN, Nari Maitree) and like minded organisations like Save the
Children UK, Concern Bangladesh, ASF, Agrogoti Shangsta from across the
country to a workshop on how to work with men and boys to end gender
based violence. The workshop was held from 7th – 8th August, in Dhaka.
SCS Regional Programme Manager Ravi Karkara and Satish Singh from Men
Action to end Violence against Women in Uttpar Pradhesh, India facilitated
the workshop. Shaila Parveen Luna, Programme Offer Non-Discrimination
organised the workshop.
SCSD’s Country Manager Olof Risberg shared SCSD commitment to work on
furthering partnerships with men and boys to end gender based violence
of girls and boys. He shared from his long experience on working with
young sex offenders (mainly boys) on child sexual abuse. He said that we
need to work with boys so that they do not grow up to become violent
men.
Violence against women and girls and violence, in general, is an issue,
which almost all have been forced to confront. We know that violence, as a
phenomenon is endemic to social structures that are based on a hierarchy
of power. Violence is one way in which unequal power structures get
articulated, or, if we are to talk in strictly gender terms, violence is the
language in which genders communicate, with mostly men having the right
to speak. It is for this reason that for the past two decades, all efforts at
building a more gender equitable world have focused on violence against
women and girls as a fundamental area of concern and activism.
The workshop discussed the urgent need to broaden the understanding
on how to include boys and men if we want to promote ideas of gender
equality and justice. International research has clearly demonstrated that
amongst young boys, ideas of masculinities become the most impelling
force for risk taking behaviours, violence, unsafe sexual practices and
misogyny. The socialisation process of boys sows the seeds of gender
inequality very early in life. The narrow path of traditional masculinities
might provide young boys with a sense of entitlement to power but it also
chips away the possibilities of building healthy and equitable relationships
with girls/women as well as other boys/men and traps them into a web of
trauma and inadequacies. However, on the positive side, the fact that not
all boys are violent gives us hope for changing the world we live in. All
young boys are socialised in ways that promote gender inequality and
violence but not all boys adopt these gendered behaviour patterns and
most do not act out these roles all the time.
Humira Aziz, Programme Manager that there is a critical need to make boys
and men the subject of a gender discourse, with their own set of issues:
socialisation processes, fears, patriarchal pressures, violence and
performance anxieties. The creation of these spaces will make visible to
men/boys the impact of gender on their lives and; the emotional and
psychological cost of treading the traditional masculinities path. To build
meaningful partnerships with men/boys to achieve gender equality and a
less violent world requires the creation of spaces and opportunities for
men/boys to start questioning gender norms and roles.
It is in this context that Save the Children Sweden-Denmark has made a
commitment to address gender discrimination and violence against children
by working with men and boys to challenge unequal gender and power
relations and hegemonic forms of masculinities. SCSD is also committed to
link various forms of discrimination and address it holistically from a child
rights programming perspective where addressing the root causes of
rights violation, such as conventional forms of masculinities, is a key
challenge that was expressed by Ravi Karkara in the workshop.
The participants worked for 2 days to prepare strategic steps on initiatives
for working with men and boys to promote gender equity and end gender
based violence of girls and boys. The thematic groups included child sexual
abuse, exploitation and trafficking, child labour, integrated approach to
child rights programming, non-discrimination and human and women’s’
rights.
Kristine Zeuthen Jeppesen, Programme Manager, SCSD concluded the
workshop and emphasised the need for likeminded organisation to join
hand to work with men and boys to end gender based violence and
gender discrimination. She also expresses SCSD commitment on supporting
community based initiatives that prepare young boys in non-hegemonic
forms of masculinities and harness a culture of respect for rights of girls
and women.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Shaila Parveen Luna, Programme officer: luna@scsd-bd.org
Kristine Zeuthen Jeppesen, Programme Manager: kristine@scsd-bd.org
Humaira Aziz, Programme Manager: humira@scsd-bd.org
Ravi Karkara, Regional Programme Manager:
ravikarkara@savethechildren.org.np