Partnering with Men to End Gender-Based Violence

This report from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia documents practices in preventing and responding to gender-based violence (GBV). The five case studies featured within document are initiatives in Armenia, Romania, Turkey, and the Ukraine that were implemented by governments and other partners with the support of UNFPA. Although the reports focus on initiatives in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the practices and lessons learned are intended for application throughout the globe.

The case studies, compiled over a period of five months through qualitative research methods, are described with a step-by-step analysis of how the work in each project was carried out and a synthesis of good practices from the region. Briefly, in Turkey, national partners worked to change perceptions of domestic violence among the police. A second case study documents the integration of reproductive health and gender into the Turkish military curriculum. The Romanian case study focuses on an institutional response to curb domestic violence and serve survivors of domestic violence. In Armenia, village trainings challenged patriarchal norms and encouraged men to share decision-making with their spouses. The final case study documents how non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were empowered to address GBV in the Ukraine. From the Executive Summary: "Four areas of good practice emerged from the research: 1) making the prevention of gender-based violence matter to men, 2) moving from awareness to action, 3) making an impact on the police and military, and 4) changing institutional responses. The first two categories directly target the way men think and behave. The latter two are not aimed at men exclusively, but affect them in critical ways. Military and law enforcement institutions are typically staffed by males, and ministries and other policy-making institutions responsible for creating and/or enforcing legislation can strongly influence male behaviour in terms of gender-based violence."

Of these four areas of good practice, more detailed strategies are described as follows:

"Making the prevention of gender-based violence matter to men:

A two-part strategy, consisting of strategic entry points and careful timing of controversial topics in the agenda, can be used to attract male audiences to training sessions and dispel resistance to sensitive topics. Trainers in all four countries opened the sessions with topics that piqued the interest of men who would normally be apathetic or resistant to attending a training session on gender-based violence. In the case of Armenia, that topic was 'healthy families'; in Turkey, ‘HIV prevention’; in Romania, 'human rights'; and in the Ukraine, 'dating and relationships'. In addition, trainers strategically placed the topic of gender-based violence towards the end of the sessions, when they were more likely to have established trust and a system for communicating openly with participants. This strategy was particularly effective with the Turkish military and police, and with community members in rural Armenia who had never before discussed gender-based violence in a public forum."

"Moving from awareness to action:

Studies on personal motivation show that people are most inclined to take action when it seems simple, straightforward and easy to do so. This proved true in Armenia, where project implementers encouraged men to allow their wives to access antenatal care after the training sessions. They made the services easily accessible by establishing mobile healthcare units in the regions where the trainings were organized. As a result, the number of women accessing care after the training sessions increased markedly. In Romania, when police were called on a domestic violence case, they handed men information on counselling that was available to them in their region and encouraged them to seek help. To maximize the effectiveness of this intervention, the police made weekly visits for up to one year after the incident to survey the situation and encourage the men to get help."

"Creating an impact on the police and military:

Police departments rely heavily on hierarchical protocols, roles and responsibilities. Project implementers in Turkey and Romania used this knowledge to design training tools for the police that systematized a response to domestic violence. In Turkey, the implementers created a DVD that demonstrates how to deal with both survivors and perpetrators, and a comprehensive form that police must complete to track information. In Romania, the implementers designed a computerized tracking system and corresponding forms that established a uniform police response to domestic violence."

"Changing institutional responses:

The ‘woodpecker’ approach, coined ...in Romania, refers to a strategy for effecting change within institutions that relies on accurate data, consistency and tenacity. ...[I]mplementers collected data on a consistent basis, and presented it monthly to authorities over the course of two years. Their tenacity... resulted in government funding for a women's shelter and a highly effective model for multi-institutional collaboration. Similarly, in the Ukraine, implementers regularly produced data on gender-based violence over a three-year period and publicized it extensively among government officials. Their efforts led to a signed commitment among institutions for a unified response to domestic violence."

The document includes strategies on the use of media engagement and other media usage to generate interest in the issue of GBV. In Armenia, prior to conducting training in rural areas, project implementers ran a short but intensive TV, radio, and print media campaign that promoted their workshops using ‘healthy families’ as a strategic entry point. The training sessions aimed to attract mothers-in-law so that they would influence their sons. In Romania, media representatives were invited to participate in training sessions from the project’s outset, and were informed constantly by the steering committee on the situation of domestic violence. Male journalists say their participation changed the way they viewed GBV leading them to committed action. "The result has been an increase in media coverage of gender-based violence as a crime and violation of human rights." In Ukraine, students shared brochures on gender-based violence and openly dialogued with their families after the training sessions. In Kyrgyzstan, implementers organised a conference for imams based on the book, "Family Planning in the Legacy of Islam", and trained 35 imams to organise workshops in their communities on sexual and reproductive health, family planning, and women’s rights. Following training sessions, Turkish police offers organised fora for religious leaders on GBV and visited schools to speak with young people. One police officer established a website for police to access information on domestic violence and to share new tools, resources, and ideas.

The document concludes that: "These case studies suggest that there is no single most effective entry point for engaging men as partners in the prevention of gender-based violence, but there are many keys to maximising the effectiveness of any given intervention."