Engaging men in the process of change to eliminate mens violence against women

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Engaging men in the process of changeto
eliminate mens violence against women

• Tracy Castelino
• PhD Candidate
• Gender Local Governance and Violence Prevention
  Project
• The University of Melbourne

Pacita Abad, I thought the streets were paved
with gold (1991)
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Some beginning questions.

• What works and what doesnt work with respect to
  the role men play in eliminating violence against
  women?
• What information do we need in order to better
  understand the role men need to play in
  eliminating violence against women?
• What issues should be top priority and should be
  addressed in a research agenda on the role men
  need to play in reducing, and ultimately
  eliminating violence against women?
• How does the role of the womens sector change
  when men enter the violence against women
  terrain?

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• Gender analysis
• is the systematic attempt to identify key issues
  contributing to gender inequalities so that they
  can be properly addressed.

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• Hegemonic masculinities define agendas for being
  a man which shape how men and women act, how
  institutions work, how culture operates (Connell,
  2001)

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Multiple levels of work by men

• Men who focus on changing the behaviour of
  individual men
• Men who mobilise other men to engage in broader
  struggles for gender justice
• Partnerships with men on building gender equality

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concerns

• Taking resources from womens services
• Compromises of womens services
• Detraction or shift of the focus away from women
  and onto men
• Mens anti violence work tends to be about new
  ways of masculinity
• Depoliticising gender work
• Ending up with men dominating the gender scene
• (Weeks, 1996 Hearn, 2001 Cornwall, 2003
  Bacchi, 2006 Pease, 2008).

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Refined Gender Audit Tool

• Current gender issues,
• Collaborations and partnerships
• Gender expertise
• Built in processes and evaluation
• Partner organisations
• Organisational cultures
• Engagement with men in the process of change

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Men and Masculinities (Kauffman, 1994, 2002
Connell, 1995 2006 Dolan, 2000 Hearn, 1998,
2008 Katz, 2003, 2006 Pease, 2000 2008).
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Checklist to assess gender coordination efforts
within policies and programs

• One or more gender experts are employed in the
  perpetrator programs.
• Gender accountability networks are established on
  both the national and local levels
• Disaggregated data is collected
• Gender analysis and sex-disaggregated data are
  routine
• Each sector has a gender action plan
• Gender dimensions are integrated into the
  trainings

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Acknowledge gender expertise

• Promoting awareness of gender issues
• Building awareness and shared ownership of the
  family violence systems reforms
• Establishing a structural and cultural basis for
  partnerships
• Implement and monitor a gender lens
• Make visible practices of gender power relations

Patrice Castle we are
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Built in process and evaluation

• Who is being served by that policy? And how?
• How are the safety needs of women being served
  with the cross sectoral partnerships?
• How might a perpetrator program contribute to
  changing public attitudes? (Gondolf, 2002 210)
• Is the program effect sufficient to warrant
  further funding and support?
• Did the program meet the objectives?
• What are we expecting from perpetrator programs?
• What changes should be made to improve program
  outcomes and accountability?

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Community coordinated responses

• Multi sector collaboration
• Cross government
• Grass roots to high level policy
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Criminal justice sanctions
• Leadership positions

Trevor Turbo Brown (2008)Bunjil in Flight
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Adding to Womens Work

• The men on the committee is a real gun when it
  comes to keeping womens issues on the agenda
• and
• We have worked hard for the last 3 years and
  now these senior advisors (men in the government
  of community development, police and justice) are
  on board.
• and
• The mens sector are making an effortwe need
  to acknowledge the work that is being done

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We are good men

• We are all part time in this work (perpetrator
  programs)we work really long hours.with limited
  resources and support
• and
• I contact women partners (of the men in the
  perpetrator program)it is important to me.it
  makes me a better worker.

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all men are not perpetrators

• there are good menmen are not all badmost men
  are not violentin fact they are inherently
  good.
• (Marchese, 2008, 66)

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 Challenge and change an organisations response

• Management has a public position against domestic
  violence
• Strong leadership on non-violence
• Policies and procedures to address abusive
  behaviour
• Training about domestic violence
• Domestic violence prevention is promoted in
  corporate publications
• Gender roles and responsibilities are explored
  through a gender justice and equality lens

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Women sectors relationship with the mens sector

• A philosophical shift,
• Statewide policy inclusion of the male family
  violence sector,
• Regional family violence committees.

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men consider how to

• Have a full integration of feminist women into
  their own efforts
• Educate about the difference between mens
  personal experiences of powerlessness and ones
  position in society
• Adopt overt pro-feminist principles and
  accountability practices for confronting sexism
  (Patrick, 2008)
• For perpetrator programs have formalised
  standards and structures

Fiona Clarke - our men need to be strong
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men consider how to work in collaboration with
womens organizations

• Openness by men
• Men engaging with the resistance of many men
• Reflecting on the responsibilities of men
• Reaching out to other men who are less
  interested.
• (Hearn, 2001)

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women critically engaging with men

• Leadership by womens services
• Being actively alert to mens engagement
• Owning our expertise
• Claiming space in partnership meetings,
• Naming the issues in public spaces

Kelly Koumalatsos
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THANK YOU
Craig Allan Charles Bunorong Fishing
Travel... San Remo Beach (Phillip Island) (2008)
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• Rashid Diab - Sudanese artist
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