Gender inequalities, and the violence that maintains them, are not simply a matter of individuals and their behaviours; they are maintained by the social, economic and political institutions that structure all of our lives. So, what can men do to work with women in challenging the institutionalised nature of sexual and gender-based violence?
Through exploring ways of engaging men as gender activists within their every-day contexts, the Mobilising Men programme is working to better understand what it takes to confront sexual and gender-based violence in institutional settings. Since early 2010, the Institute for Development Studies, with support from UNFPA, has partnered with implementing civil society organisations in India, Kenya and Uganda to identify, recruit, train and support teams of male activists to work with women in developing campaigns to challenge and change the policies and cultures of specific institutional settings that condone or even fuel sexual and gender-based violence.
‘Mobilising Men in Practice’ brings together stories and lessons from this work, as well as some of the tools used by the partners in India, Kenya and Uganda. It is intended to inspire and guide others who are committed to engaging more men in efforts to address sexual and gender-based violence within the institutions in which we live our lives.
This publication is also available for download in Chinese (pdf).
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