The White Ribbon Campaign UK
The WRC is the largest effort in the world of men working to end men's violence against women. It relies on volunteer support and financial contributions from individuals and organizations
Report by Chris Green for the Daphne-Toolkit project
Chris Green
Executive Director White Ribbon Campaign (UK)
Representative of European Congress of Local and Regional Authorities to the Council of Europe Task Force planning the campaign to combat Violence against Women to be launched in November 2006.
How to Make Men more involved in the work
against Violence against Women and Children
The crucial requirement to involve men in working to combat violence against women is being recognised by political organisations, practioners in the field and academics.
Political initiatives
The Council of Europe Campaign against Violence against Women will be launched in November 2006 and run for 15 months. One of its specific objectives is calling for the involvement of many more men in combating violence against women, precisely to
“Support specific awareness raising initiatives aimed at men in order to mobilise them to take an active part in eliminating all forms of violence against women, including violence in the family or domestic unit.”
(Task Force Report April 25-27th 2006,)
Two earlier Council of Europe conferences have also specifically addressed the importance of involving men in this work.
IN the UK alone, Amnesty International have held four major conferences in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, with the theme “Involving Men”, and the UK Home Office also held a workshop recently concerned with Working with Men’s Organisations to change Men’s Behaviour. These initiatives have also been echoed by work going on in other members states, for example, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Germany.
Practioners in the field
Awareness raising by for example the White Ribbon Campaign (UK) has been welcomed by workers in the field in Police Forces, Crime reduction partnerships and Domestic Violence Reduction staff and they have repeatedly said that there is a need to involve men in violence reduction activities.
Academics
This is reinforced by work among the academic community as evidenced by writers such as Michael Kaufmann, Jorgen Lorentzen and Oystein Holter.
Kaufmann sees it as necessary to “mobilise men and boys to work on their own and in partnership with women and girls to transform destructive masculinities, end oppressive gender relations and promote gender equity,”
Lorentzen suggests that “The stress on power must be replaced with different strategies to support a link between men and care. It will also imply an active fatherhood policy, because fathering is an important way of building a masculinity of care,”
while Holter recommends
“What is still lacking in my view is a thorough discussion , and a new learning process among men, especially men involved in episodic violence, and systematic research and the development of better approaches to conflict resolution in the case of both genders” Oystein Holter EG- SEM-MV (2005).Page 74
All these approaches can be incorporated into a set of recommendations in developing work with men , and the Daphne Toolkit Project
Recommendations for involving men in working to end violence against women
When the commonality from these three approaches is compared the following strands appear:
A>Generating a climate for Men to Speak out
Create a central information and contact point for men who want to change which will help men move on from feelings of shame to a learning point for self-change.
B>Finding and Nurturing Allies
Create broad based groups of men, where they can understand that they are not alone in dealing with the contradictory experiences of power and the related problems.
C> Using Realistic descriptions, not blaming or stereotyping language
It is necessary to stop using worst case language and images which can drive men away from wanting to be involved as they can disassociate themselves from the worst case of violence often depicted.
D>Educating, Disseminating and accessing the targets
Disseminate best practice and undertake broadly based educational activities embedded in the curriculum for schools and for professionals.
E>Recognising trauma, creating compassion
Consider how violence passes from one generation to another and develop interventions to deal with this intergenerational violence
F>Build a gender culture of peace
Solutions to the issue of violence are interlinked. It is necessary to recognise diversity, and to notice the pressures on the family as we work to develop the solutions.
G>Measure men’s behavioural and attitudinal change
Use a scale to measure attitudes of men and the effectiveness of initiatives addressed at men and boys. Kaufmann recommends using the GEM scale used by the Promundo organisation in Brazil.
H>Recognise the fundamental nature of Women’s Oppressions and Struggles for Equality.
While it is necessary to involve men to end violence against women, one cannot equate women’s oppression with the contradictory experiences of power that men have. Involving men must therefore always a double focus: to acknowledge their fears and frustrations on one hand, but also to make clear that only by challenging patriarchy can men and women move forward
Recommendations for the Daphne Toolkit and the Daphne Programme
It is necessary to see how the development and use of the Daphne Toolkit may be integrated into these aims.
While undertaking the work to recognize the need throughout all the activities to continue to challenge patriarchy (H)
1. To examine how Daphne Projects have targeted men for involvement, and in particular the image of men they have presented. (A) (C)
2. To use the GEM Scale to measure men’s attitudinal change as part of an ongoing analysis of the success of some Daphne projects aimed at changing men’s attitudes. (G)
3. T o discover the best ways of reaching out to men who use violence (A) (D)
4. To collate and disseminate best practice on professional organizations which undertake work on violence against women as part of their mainstream training activities (D)
5. To offer support to those organizations attempting to become centres for information about working with men. ( A)
6) To consider the impact of organization outside the usual boundaries of those working in the field of preventing violence against women who have an impact on the self image of men (B)(E)(F)
Appendix 1: The academics and their recommendations
Kaufmann’s recommendations are found in his AIM framework
A. The Primacy of Women’s Oppression and Struggles for Equality and Equity (H)
As a first point Kaufman poses the issue, that men and women are both affected by the power of patriarchy, but one cannot equate women’s oppression with the contradictory experiences of power that men have. As a consequence men cannot be addressed per se, like feminism and the womens’ movement did. The consequences are widespread, from the allocation of resources to the language used when speaking to men and boys. Involving men has therefore always a double focus: to acknowledge their fears and frustrations on one hand, but also to make clear that only by challenging patriarchy can men and women move forward.
B. Navigate Through Men’s Fear (A)
Men are making big individual efforts to follow the cultural guidelines of manhood that is so strongly related to power and control. It is not only an ideological phenomenon, but also part of a personal struggle not to lose this power. Challenging men concerning the issue of malehood can produce irrational reactions based on fear. It is therefore necessary to appeal to some of the very values that are challenged i.e. to appeal to ‘men’s power to end violence against women in this community’.
C. Use the language of responsibility rather than blame.(C)
The author proposes a language of responsibility rather than blame, to avoid a backlash on different levels and to bring out a positive motivation for men and boys. To put it simply: rather than blame men and boys as part of the problem, make them part of the solution by taking responsibility for violence prevention.
D. Create and nurture groups of men(B)
A part of the problem men have is the ideology of isolation that surrounds mens’ lives. Creating groups of men, where they can understand that they are not alone in dealing with the contradictory experiences of power and the problems related can be a big effort in overcoming sexism and patriarchy. Of course these groups are designed to be different from the existing ‘mens groups’ of hierarchy and power (like the army, politics etc.)
E. Importance of Men’s and Boys’ Voices (D)
Men and boys can be more easily involved by the voices of other men and boys, representing both, the ‘inside view’ of partriachal power and benefits, but also the advantages of overcoming the dilemmas, personal frustrations and other problems within this issue. Therefore it is crucial that men and boys are involved by targetting and focussing messages to them.
F. Create a Politics of Compassion (E)
The politics of compassion meant here are focussing not only the suppression of and violence against women and girls, but also an awareness of the negative impact of patriarchy on men and boys themselves. This includes the important role of a gender related view for this issue, so that men have – on a theoretical but also practical level -the possibility to reflect on their involvement in an patriarchal society and to act in an responsible way.
G. Finding Entry Points to Particular Age Groups. (D)
This strategy is about reaching boys/teenaged boys, to ‘plant seeds’ in their minds and to give opportunities to develop healthy relationships. Therefore one has to be aware of the specific needs and links to the boys lives at different ages.
H. Avoid generalizations and stereotypes (E)
Language provides not only words but also suggestions of changeability, labels and stigmas. It makes a difference if one talks about a ‘perpetrator’ or a’ man who uses violence against women’. The second term includes the responsibility but also the possibility of change and avoids irrational male reactions like ‘identifying all men as violent’.
I. Work with men and boys to develop their emotional life and a language of emotions. (D)
It seems obvious that the emotional language of men and boys is underdeveloped. There seems to be a reduced sense of empathy and a lack of awareness to their own emotions but also to those of other peoples. To develop the emotional life the apperance of male persons in the families as nurturing persons etc. is very important. On the other hand different actions can be taken, for example workshops in school or media campaigns addressed to the ‘hearts’ of men and boys.
J. Measure men’s attitudinal and behavioural changes – the GEM scale. (G)
The Instituto Promundo in Brazil and the Horizons Program in the U.S. has developed a scale to measure ‘gender equitable norms and behaviour in men’ (GEM). This could be adapted and used all over the world to measure attitudes of men and the effectiveness of initiatives addressed at men and boys
The Council of Europe conference proceedings; Violence within the family, the place and role of men EG-SEM_MV(2005) report the findings of a range of European academics in the field of the role of men in domestic violence
There were 5 recommendations from this conference:
In brief these were:
1) There should be identified a recognised single centre of activity “change agent” in each country to look at the situation of men who are victimised within the family (A)
2) There is a great need for dissemination of good practice…..Much of the information available on the European level is like the papers at this conference: a few pages sketching the general idea, with little or no detail for lack of time or space. (D)
3) Educational efforts need to be developed and made widely known. Preventive work could include for example., proactive intervention with young couples during the first pregnancy and during infancy, to support basic parenting skills so that children are less likely to become aggressive and parents are less likely to resort to violence. (D)
4) There is a need to educate male and female professionals in all fields of work where intervention or support should be implemented. The role of men in preventing and reducing violence includes the responsibility of decision makers from the top down, who should not merely proclaim a policy or issue a regulation, but ensure training of all those who are needed for implementation. (D)
5) Partnership between women and men towards building a (gender) culture of peace is an essential element of long term change. This should be based upon taking responsibility for oneself and respecting the limits set by the other, as well as recognising diversity without compromising on basic human rights. (F)
Oystein Holter suggested 8 issues for action:
1 Breaking Men’s Silence (A)
Violence is also a major problem for the men themselves. Most violent men in Norway regard their violence as a shameful personal thing. They do not yet recognise it as a point of departure for learning and improvement. They do not see it as a societal problem.
2 Finding Allies (B)
Although White Ribbon Campaign and other efforts to engage men have been successful, we face the challenge of creating a situation that results in the broader, long term commitment of a majority of men.
3. Realism (C)
Stop using worst case images as these can be images to which the majority of people do not relate.
4. Recognising traumatisation (intergenerational violence) (E)
Childhood domestic violence and vicitimisation are areas which need more research to discover how they influence aggression and a propensity for violence
5. Combining feminist and family system approaches (B)
Family counselling has tended to ignore violence and play down gender issues. In family therapy while developing an agenda that helps the family there is no need to ignore the fact that men must take their violence seriously
6. Work/Life integration (F)
Poor relationships (jealousy and breakup) and an insecure or marginal job position create a greater chance of violence in the family.
There is a requirement to improve job security
7. Families matter (F)
The time squeeze creates pressures within the family
8. Creating a European culture of peace
Solutions to the problem are interlinked . There must be clear alternatives to the violence policy and culture in all areas of society. (F)
When the commonality from these three approaches is compared the following strands appear:
I>Generating a climate for Men to Speak out
Create a central information and contact point for men who want to change which will help men move on from feelings of shame to a learning point for self-change.
J>Finding and Nurturing Allies
Create broad based groups of men, where they can understand that they are not alone in dealing with the contradictory experiences of power and the related problems.
K>Realistic, Not blaming or stereotyping language
Stop using worst case language and images which can drive men away from wanting to be involved as they can disassociate themselves from the worst case of violence often depicted.
L>Educating, Disseminating and accessing the targets
Disseminate best practice and undertake broadly based educational activities embedded in the curriculum for schools and for professionals.
M>Recognising trauma, creating compassion
Consider how violence passes from one generation to another and develop interventions to deal with this
N>Build a gender culture of peace
Solutions to the issue of violence are interlinked. It is necessary to recognise diversity, and to notice the pressures on the family as we work to develop the solutions.
O>Measure men’s behavioural and attitudinal change
Use a scale to measure attitudes of men and the effectiveness of initiatives addressed at men and boys
P>The Primacy of Women’s Oppressions and Struggles for Equality.
While it is necessary to involve men to end violence against women, one cannot equate women’s oppression with the contradictory experiences of power that men have. Involving men must therefore always a double focus: to acknowledge their fears and frustrations on one hand, but also to make clear that only by challenging patriarchy can men and women move forward
Therefore the recommendations
White-Ribbon-UK-Report-2006_1