The Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein, the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-determination and PeaceWomen held an event at UN headquarters yesterday entitled “Men, Peace and Security: Engaging Men and Boys to Promote Gender Equality and Eliminate Gender-Based Violence.”
In recognition of how creating partnerships with boys and men is critical to establishing gender equality and ending gender based violence, this installment of a lecture series on Women, Peace and Security featured an inspiring presentation on the work of Promundo, a Brazilian-based NGO with offices in Rwanda and Washington, DC, which works to engage men and boys in gender equality and violence prevention.
Promundo’s International Director Gary Barker discussed the organization’s research on men and masculinity in several post-conflict settings, including Rwanda, DRC, Burundi and the Balkans. One particularly powerful report entitled “Bridges to Adulthood” explores Promundo’s quantitative and qualitative research on the lifelong effect of childhood experiences of violence on men. Simply put, the research indicates that violence begets violence, as a man’s childhood experiences strongly correlate with how he will interact with his own partners and children.
Gary also discussed the work of Promundo and affiliated organizations like MenEngage and MenCare in helping men develop positive masculine identities. Religious institutions were specifically mentioned as important partners in this work. Be sure to check out the inspiring video from MenCare below and Promundo’s other great resources as well.