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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Engaging young men against gender-based violence

Engaging young men against gender-based violence

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published Published on Aug 12, 2011   modified Modified on Aug 12, 2011
A project engaging young men as allies against and not as perpetrators of gender-based violence acting as catalysts to bring about a constructive change in and around their community has proved to be an effective approach.

Non-government organisation Independent Commission for People's Rights and Development (ICPRD) undertook the project in three Karnataka districts – Ramnagara, Bellary and Mysore – for three years beginning October 2008. An evaluation report of the project titled “Youth forums against gender based violence” was released here this week.

The project approach has the “potential to be mainstreamed in health, education, local government and micro-credit government programmes”, noted the report.

The project adopted a phased strategy involving research and mobilisation of male youth (in the age group of 14 to 17 and 18 to 24) into forums, training them as leaders and trainers, mapping gender-based violence in these areas and eventually engaging with female stakeholders and groups (like self-help groups in villages) for greater outreach.

Among the issues addressed by the youth groups were alcoholism, wife-beating, dowry, girl drop-outs, female foeticide, child marriage and eve-teasing. The project covered around 70 villages through a cost-effective approach.

Begin from home

“One of the first things to understand was that we had to change ourselves and things in our households,” said one of the youth forum members at a discussion of the report. Initially, the project involved assessing existing attitudes of male youth towards gender roles, followed by identifying and training young men to become master trainers and leaders.

The report said that trained youth leaders engaged with villagers through “cultural activism”, street plays, sports gatherings, setting up girls and women's clubs were used to generate awareness about the issue. While school-based activities like debates and essay writing were not very popular, the youth forums were supported by local schools since they gave out their premises for project activities.
-The Hindu

According to ICPRD member-secretary Nandini Azad, patriarchy was one of the major challenges faced by youth forum members during the course of the three-year project.

Youth forum members who were present at the discussion spoke about specific cases where they were able to make a difference. “In Mysore villages, superstition is a major problem,” said youth forum member Suresh from Mysore, adding that the forum in his village was able to prevent a case of female foeticide “recommended by an astrologer”. Other members spoke about their success in dealing with dowry cases and preventing girls from dropping out of schools.

The independent evaluator of the project, Asha Ramesh, pointed out that while the project had been able to involve several stakeholders, a major challenge for the future would be sustaining interest in the cause. “Besides, exit of trained youth into urban areas is a major concern,” she added, suggesting that lowering the age group of youth forum members could be a feasible solution to deal with these problems.

The Hindu, 12 August, 2011, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2349152.ece


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