• Excerpt: Men may understand women’s rights violations differently from women, because they are not directly affected by it or experience it differently from their standpoint. They cannot always be expected to understand them from the same lens. It is also important to note that the frequency and normality of some of these violations may have desensitized them from understanding their gravity and costs to the society. Thus, it is crucial that the experiences of women are conveyed to them in ways that help them understand what is at stake. This may involve the use of analogies and examples that are outside issues of gender, especially where there are strict demarcations of men’s and women’s roles or a sense of acquiescence or surrender that religion or culture accepts or expects this. Analogies or examples that they can appreciate or have been through themselves may also be an entry point into discussions.

One method of doing this is using other examples of inequality. For instance a participant of the South African Men’s Forum was able to grasp the concept of gender inequality by comparing it to inequalities that existed during the racial apartheid in the region. 

Similarly a trainer of Islamic law to the Ministry of Justice in Afghanistan used the concept of slavery (now abolished in most parts of the Muslim world) to highlight its similarities with the complete subservience of a wife in exchange of dowry, as a way of deconstructing to the participants, the repugnant aspects of unequal relationships that Islam sought to gradually abolish through its revelations on the treatment of slaves now present in some marital relations.

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Empowering men as partners in women’s rights activists

I intend to begin this interpretive paper by exploring notions and definitions of key terms that arise in our discussions of men’s and women’s role in war and peace. I intend that this exploration will trigger readers to access more fluid definitions and notions that a) exposes the weaknesses of binary categories such as ‘men/women’, ‘powerful/subordinate’ and ‘oppressor/oppressed’ in the investigation of men and women’s daily-realities; and b) to use these fluid understandings (of the multiple roles that women and men play) to inform better grassroots programs, strategies and program content for new and existing training, campaigning and education activities in conflict and post-conflict situations.

This interpretive paper is designed as a set of reflective questions and a list of accompanying techniques of engagement with men, which I hope will serve as a useful framework for activists and organizations embarking to design programs to empower men in efforts concerning women’s (and men’s) rights.

Gender-based programs are often built upon a certain set of premises or assumptions that in theory frames the design and implementation of all activities.

The following are some examples of a premise:

• The work of this organization is premised upon substantive equality between men and women as laid down in the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
• The work of this organization is premised upon the belief that women’s economic independence through micro-credit lending is key to advancing their agency in decision-making activities in their household.

• The work of this organization is premised upon the importance of raising the awareness of women’s rights amongst men and young boys and increasing men’s involvement in women’s rights efforts.

Some features of organizational or program premises:

• They may exist on a conscious or sub-conscious level.
• They may be expressly written out on organizational documents  or communicated orally between staff.
• They can act as guiding posts or benchmarks for the implementation of a project.
• They may reflect an organizational culture.
• They may not always be communicated to and agreed upon by all the staff.

Establishing the premises for any program is important because they lay down the foundations for the design of new programs; they act as success indicators; they frame discussions that take place during staff meetings; they encourage certain types of conduct amongst staff; and they create an organizational culture. Communicating these premises and reiterating them during staff meetings and other activities involving staff engagement will be important for the premises to effect meaningful outcomes.

Many gender programs are starting to realize the importance of engaging men as partners in women’s rights efforts. Often men are perceived as problems and not targeted as solutions to women’s challenges. Thus advocacy methods sometimes unconsciously reproduce negative discourses (both written and spoken) of men’s adversarial disposition towards women. This narrow frame of reference may deter many men from contributing positively to women’s rights efforts. Laying down and communicating a premise that posits men’s positive involvement can invite staff to reconsider existing advocacy strategies and programs, and tease out existing organizational philosophies, approach and language, that may evoke unnecessary negative representations of men or male/female relationships.

Men’s involvement, in certain contexts, is extremely essential due to their preponderant exercise of decision-making in micro and macro activities effecting women such as family planning, education of female children, attention to treatment of diseases, access to maternal healthcare during pregnancy and the control of economic assets. At the macro level, this extends to nearly every effort in law and policy-making, programming and budget allocation, at all levels of government; their exercise of political power, access to Ministries, ability to tap into larger network of resources and authority over law and policies affect the allocation and equitable distribution of resources needed for this work.

There are a variety of innovative ways and strategies that women can use to increase men’s involvement in the work for gender equality.

Seeing beyond the dichotomy

The following set of reflective questions is designed to encourage readers to contemplate more fluid definitions and accounts of women’s rights and men’s role in its advancement. The discussion of these questions amongst staff members may initiate new ideas in the mapping, design, implementation and evaluation of activities pertaining to men’s role either as perpetrators in women’s causes or partners in them. This can potentially alter the approaches of women’s rights investigation and data collection, and the presentation of data and evidence collected to establish the cause and effect of women’s rights violations. Perhaps more importantly, the ideas generated may also inform the design of training, education and advocacy programs, that strategically and meaningfully includes men in the delivery of these activities, or engage them as important participants in them.  Continue reading →