Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice

In Zinder, Niger 🇳🇪, today, we've kicked off a week-long training of facilitators of the redesigned Husbands Schools, integrating the gender transformative dimension. The training is led by Equimindo in collaboration with WADATA, under the Agency for All project. This training is attended by 99 participants, women and men, from 24 villages of three communes: Damagaram Takaya, Guidimouni and Mazamni. The objective of this training is to build the capacity of facilitators and co-facilitators and provide them with the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to ensure quality and successful facilitation of the gender transformative Husbands Schools sessions.

The way we raise boys – socializing them from a young age to be stoic, strong, and brave – hinders their ability to form deep connections and has created a "male loneliness epidemic.” The negative consequences of this are being felt throughout society, resulting in a breeding ground for misogyny and hate. According to Equimundo’s State of American Men 2023 study, two out of three young men agree with the statement ‘no one really knows me well.’ More and more young people, particularly young men, are feeling lonely and disaffected, and turning to online spaces for support and community. When disengaged young men spend more time on the internet seeking answers to innocuous searches for connection and understanding, they are increasingly funneled into the “manosphere,” a term referring to online spaces where influencers and content creators capitalize on male insecurities with misogynistic and extremist content. In response to men’s concerns about romantic relationships and dating, physical appearance and fitness, wealth and financial advice, and self-improvement, bad actors fill the messaging void with harmful and extreme narratives around gender politics. Read more in The Independent with insights from Caroline Hayes (Equimundo Senior Strategic Initiatives Officer), Judy Chu (author, Lecturer at Stanford University, and former Equimundo Board Member), and Michael Reichert (Equimundo Senior Fellow, founding director of the Center for the Study of Boys’ and Girls’ Lives at the University of Pennsylvania). https://lnkd.in/dZDdsr8G #MaleLonelinessEpidemic #Manosphere #MaleLoneliness #GenderEquality

The Male Ally Handbook: Building Better Workplaces for Equality and Change, authored by Michael Kaufman, Senior Fellow at Equimundo, with contributions from more Equimundo colleagues, Next Gen Men, Catalyse, and Beyond Equality, builds on decades of work by Michael Kaufman and his colleagues around the world with corporations, governments, unions, the UN, and NGOs. It offers practical advice and deep understanding to anyone who wants women to have equal opportunities in income and advancement, and who want workplaces that are supportive of parents, free of harassment, that promote work-life balance, and are positive places for us all. From November 25 - December 8, the Male Ally Handbook is on sale. Get your copy here: https://lnkd.in/ew3FatAz  #MaleAllyHandbook

Violence against women and girls (#VAWG) remains largely underreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it. Yet the crisis of gender-based violence remains urgent; every 10 minutes, a woman or girl was killed intentionally by a partner or family member in 2023. The 16 Days of Activism, starting today (November 25) on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and concluding on International Human Rights Day (December 10), provide a vital opportunity to demand accountability and action from leaders. There is #NoExcuse for violence against women and girls—and no excuse for not taking a stand against it. Preventing violence requires us to engage men who, worldwide, make up the majority of perpetrators of violence against women. At Equimundo we see men and boys as stakeholders, actors and allies in a more just, safe and caring world – in partnership with women and girls and individuals of all gender identities. #16Days United Nations UN Women

🕙 Every 10 minutes, a woman is killed by a partner or family member. ⚠️ NO MORE VIOLENCE. ⚠️ NO MORE KILLINGS. ⚠️ NO MORE EXCUSES. It's on ALL of us. Join the #16Days of activism against gender-based violence: https://lnkd.in/e_umMnPr #NoExcuse

Globally, 128 million boys are out of school, calling for urgent action. UNESCO, Equimundo, and the University of East Anglia have launched the Lifting Barriers: Educated Boys for Gender Equality initiative, supported by the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX), to address this growing issue. In Malawi, boys face disproportionately high dropout rates, often due to repetition. While the government has rightly prioritized girls’ education, it recognizes that boys have at times been unintentionally overlooked. This project aims to reduce boys’ disengagement and dropout rates in primary education by creating an inclusive educational environment that promotes positive masculine norms, values boys’ developmental needs, and fosters their sense of belonging and academic self-efficacy. In partnership with CAVWOC and the Center for Social Research at the University of Malawi, the team is developing a pilot intervention using a whole-school approach that engages teachers, school personnel, boys, and their caregivers. Cody Ragonese, Deputy Director of Programs at Equimundo, recently traveled to Malawi to meet with the project team and present findings from the initial research product, which highlights best practices for engaging boys in educational interventions. The team also convened with external stakeholders to discuss the relevance of these findings and began conceptualizing the whole-school intervention model, which will be designed in the coming months. Read more about the project here: https://lnkd.in/ejdWqXfZ

Equimundo attended the first Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children in Bogotá, Colombia. At this historic conference, governments, multilateral organizations, civil society, and children united to envision a world centered on care where children could grow up free from violence. Over 100 governments worldwide have committed to ending childhood violence, which more than half of all children globally experience. Globally, an estimated one billion children—more than half of all children—suffer some form of violence. This includes child maltreatment (with corporal punishment being the most prevalent), bullying, and physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. Violence against children often occurs behind closed doors and is vastly underreported. WHO estimates that fewer than half of affected children disclose their experiences, and less than 10% receive any help. Childhood violence can have long-lasting and profound consequences on socio-emotional health and well-being. At the conference, governments and organizations pledged to implement parenting and caregiver support programs that promote equitable, nurturing, and nonviolent relationships. These programs have proven effective in preventing violence against both children and their mothers. Additional pledges included supporting safe and enabling school environments, providing response services for child survivors of violence, addressing online violence exposure, promoting digital safety, and banning corporal punishment in all settings. Our Director of Programs, Clara Alemann, represented Equimundo on a UNICEF-organized panel about rethinking restrictive norms and values, focusing on masculinity's role in preventing violence against girls, boys, and women alongside panelists from Colombia, the United Kingdom, Malawi, and Tanzania. Clara shared evidence from Equimundo's research on how patriarchal social norms and rigid gender stereotypes harm boys—as well as girls and non-binary children—and offered concrete ways to transform these norms to promote healthier versions of masculinity and care by and for men. She emphasized two key ideas: ➡ Transforming harmful notions of masculinity to prevent violence is in everyone's interest. It affects not only women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals but also men and boys, and is crucial for creating safer, more caring, and equitable societies. ➡ How societies raise boys profoundly impacts their ability to develop fully as human beings, express emotions, learn in school, seek help, and connect with others. Boys absorb restrictive notions from media, parents, teachers, sports coaches, and peers, internalizing and living them. How we teach boys to become men is of utmost importance. The event was co-hosted by the Governments of Colombia and Sweden, along with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children.

Webinar starting in 1 hour: What's next for men and boys in Trump's America? About the session: How do we explain the victory of Donald Trump, and what was the role that men played in electing him? What does this mean for ongoing efforts to engage men on gender equality–and fundamental human rights more generally–over the next four years, in the US and abroad? Join us: https://lnkd.in/eEi9enUc

Introducing the The Global Roadmap for Action on the Care Economy (GRAC). There is an unprecedented demand for care worldwide, but care worker shortages persist. The fragile and inadequate care infrastructure worldwide relies heavily on the paid and unpaid care work of women and girls, which is often left unrecognized. Over the past several years, numerous initiatives and policies have emerged to catalyze change, reflecting a growing recognition of the importance of care work as a social investment and public good that drives inclusive and sustainable development. Despite this recognition, extensive policy, data, and other gaps persist.   In response, the Center for Global Development, The Asia Foundation, CIPPEC, Women Deliver, and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) developed the Global Roadmap for Action on the Care Economy (GRAC), in support of the Global Alliance for Care. The #GRAC provides a strategic framework that maps the global care landscape and its opportunities, highlights existing data and gaps in measurement, supports coordination efforts, and provides insights to inform future advocacy, research, policy action, and financing. In this webinar, experts from governments, civil society, multilateral organizations, and donors shared new research and key initiatives related to the global care economy, including Equimundo Senior Advocacy Officer, Wessel van den Berg PhD. “Our goal as a feminist campaign is to see men doing half of the daily unpaid care work in aggregate around the world. Men's contribution to care matters for gender equality, and care matters for men's mental health and well-being.” — Wessel van den Berg, our Senior Advocacy Officer, discussing the MenCare campaign on the webinar. Watch the recording here: https://lnkd.in/eU74HTVS

The #HowToTalkWithMen campaign comes at a time in which #GenderEquality, #WomensRights, and #LGBTQIArights are under increasing attack, and society grapples with questions of what it means to be a man... ...It is against this backdrop that the world is asking what it takes to bring men and boys’ on board as meaningful allies the struggle for #GenderJustice. #HowToTalkWithMen is asking this to the people and organisations doing just that, year-round, all over the world... so that we can learn from each other, learn from the past, and show that transformation is possible. If you work with men and boys and care about how ideas and norms of #masculinity impact them and what the knock-on effects are for people around them and society as a whole, please share your story of #HowToTalkWithMen about gender issues over the next two weeks. Find out more at: ➡️ English https://lnkd.in/e484Knqm ➡️ French https://lnkd.in/exkNHdNH ➡️ Spanish https://lnkd.in/eT295wiN