Gender-Based Violence: Engaging Men and Boys for Lasting Social Behaviour Change

Unlearning deep-rooted beliefs, dismantling patriarchal norms, and standing up for gender equality;

What can be done at the policy level to achieve something resembling this to create a society free from gender-based violence (GBV)?

The expression, “the personal is political” has been powerfully resonant in the movement for women’s rights for decades. Despite the sustainability of transforming both personal and political spaces for gender equality, it seems that many programs are still focusing on individual social behavior change alone rather than supplementing these efforts with more action at the policy level.

According to @UNWomen, below are some useful recommendations on how to effectively tackle GBV and gender inequality:

1. Work on policy and political change: This ranges from advocacy for positive legal change in favor of women’s rights, to implementation of existing or new laws through the executive. We often see supportive laws in place but a lack of implementation and continued impunity of perpetrators due to wider patriarchal structures.

Male politicians and civil servants must carry part of the workload in order to transform these structures. For example, in Kenya, UN Women has trained more than 600 officers across Kenya’s National Police Service to recognize the signs of potential femicide and the unique challenges faced by women, while promoting a victim-centred approach to law enforcement. Another broader example is the UNITE campaign which calls upon not just civil society and the private sector, but governments as well to address GBV.

2. Widen the intersectional lens to build stronger coalitions: Action at the policy level must be taken in collaboration with intersectional feminist and #LGBTIQ+ movements, governments, and institutional leaders. Programming with men and boys should include linkages with broader movements for social change and #SocialJustice. For instance, Men’s Action to Stop Violence

Against Women (MASVAW) in India has worked to encourage men’s support for domestic violence legislation. Furthermore, action at the policy level must also widen its perspectives to tackle overarching issues such as the political economy of care work – the valuation of economic and social contributions of caregivers that largely goes unpaid and takes place in households–and institutionalized forms of patriarchal violence.

3. Reorient evidence-based programming and advocate with donors: it is crucial to factor in the

time and funding for sustainable societal change and the processes tied to that change. Donors and governments must acknowledge the benefits of long-term research and ensure support for evidence-based programming on a larger scale if in-depth transformation is to take place. A successful example of this is Oxfam’s ‘Say Enough’ campaign that was able to raise awareness about the prevalence of gender-based violence worldwide and to mobilize resources using different advocacy and SBC strategies for engaging donors.

In sum, tackling GBV – and indeed gender inequality as a whole – requires a concerted effort from donors, policymakers, and civil society movements. For programming to be effective at the individual level requires time and buy-in from the wider community as well as government and policymakers.