When talking about gender-based injustice, it’s easy to start forming the idea that one gender is good, and the other is bad. But our world is more complex than that, and we have to be careful not to get too dogmatic.
In fact, in some instances where girls are systematically abused, it’s often the mothers inflicting pain on their daughters, while many fathers advocate for change. (Learn more about this in our story onfemale genital cutting.)
Last month, in partnership with the Burundian government’s Center for Family Development, FH trained eight new groups — each with 8 to 12 men — on the threats against women and girls and how to make change in their communities.
They talked about:
- the many ways women and girls experience SGBV (sexual and gender-based violence)
- what can be done to help victims
- how to reach the youth with anti-SGBV messages
- handling SGBV cases in the courts
- strategies to prevent SGBV
Because most perpetrators of violence in Burundi are men, it was decided that men need to be the ones to spread messages of non-violence to each other. These men were hand-selected by leaders in their communities because they didn’t beat their children, wives, hired help or other people.
“Our staff feel very strongly that these are helpful means, and the men are listening to each other,” says Philip Mato, FH’s program manager in Burundi.
Related posts:
- Working with all sectors of society to protect women and girls
- BACK TO HAITI — How to protect vulnerable girls from slavery
- Seven ways women and girls are especially vulnerable during emergencies
- Four causes of violence against women in the Dominican Republic
- Congolese women and men unite in solidarity for International Women’s Day
