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All programmes working with men and boys, even those addressing other issues, such
as HIV and AIDS, should consider whether their messages and imagery unintentionally
reinforce unhelpful traditional stereotypes about men and women that contribute to
violence against women and girls. Programmes that involve transformation in gender
roles and social norms should also be conscientious about unintentionally generating
other gender discriminatory attitudes (such as men feeling that they need to „protect‟
women by limiting their mobility, freedom or privacy) or anti-equality perspectives (such
as homophobia) that sometimes arise.
How to avoid doing harm and ensure local relevance:
� Ensure that interventions centre on safeguarding the human rights of women and
a gender equality approach, informed by women‟s experiences in the community
and experts in the field of violence against women.
� Ensure the cultural appropriateness of the strategies by engaging local
organizations and individuals – both men and women – who have knowledge of
both the context and of the outcomes of past interventions.
� Involve boys and men in developing programmes, campaign messages,
communication materials, and other important products or interventions.
� Field test all materials with the specific target audience (for example, by age subgroup,
language group, ethnic group or other important group characteristic).
� Continually monitor and evaluate interventions.
� Include feedback from women in the evaluations (for instance, in corroborating
men‟s self-reported attitudinal or behavioural changes).
Understand the diversity of boys‟ and men‟s experiences and tailor initiatives
appropriately
Programmes should recognize that not all men are equal - differences in age, education
levels, socio-economic status, and experiences of racism, homophobia and other
factors need to be addressed. There are also multiple dimensions to each individual
man, for example, men may experience power and powerlessness at the same time; a
man may feel powerful in his home in relation to his wife, but may feel oppressed at
work.
Programmes should also consider other factors when designing programmes to reach
men and boys, such as differences in language and culture, rural versus urban
contexts, in-school versus out-of-school youth, married versus single men, and
differences in employment settings, among others.
Conduct a situation analysis to obtain a better understanding of the diverse population
of men and boys and their varying contexts, so that the best entry points and methods
for reaching them can be identified.
Tailoring initiatives this way increases the relevance and likelihood of achieving the
desired results (Valle et al., 2007).
Men and Boys Knowledge Module January 2012 10