| dc.description.abstract | This Issue Brief has been commissioned by Status of
Women Canada (SWC) in collaboration with The Public
Health Agency of Canada to provide an overview of efforts
to engage men of all ages in efforts to reduce and prevent
gender-based violence.
The paper will begin with a look at the historical efforts in
Canada and the development of work with men and boys to
end gender-based violence around the world. This overview
will also chronicle the expression of this effort in various
United Nations commitments since the Beijing 4th World
Conference on Women in 1995. A brief review of Canadian
statistics around violence against women, and a look at what
little research exists on men’s attitudes towards genderbased violence in Canada and globally will follow.
In order to address the roles men of all ages can play in
preventing and reducing gender-based violence, the paper
will then examine the root causes; the socialization of men,
power and patriarchy, masculinities, gender inequality and
the links to all forms of violence against women. Further
detail will be provided for the complex issues and multiple dimensions around gender-based violence particularly as they
relate to men, and a brief contextualization of the relevance
to several communities of interest.
Finally, the paper will illustrate the promising strategies,
best practices, and effective frameworks for engaging men
and boys in the effort to reduce and prevent gender-based
violence. This section will also identify gaps, and note the
considerations, limits and risks involved as well.
The White Ribbon Campaign, a Canadian registered nonprofit with 20 years experience in this work has been commissioned to write this paper. WRC began in Canada in
1991, as a response to the tragic murder of 14 women on
December 6th 1989, at L’École Polytechnique in Montréal.
A small group of men determined that men had both a role
and responsibility in working to end violence against women.
What started as a grassroots effort to raise awareness with
men and boys, has now evolved to an internationally recognized movement, with WRC activities supported in over 60 countries around the world. | en_US |
