Interagency Gender Working Group — Publications and Tools — SysteMALEtizing Resources for Engaging Men in Sexual and Reproductive Health

SysteMALEtizing Resources for Engaging Men in Sexual and Reproductive Health

SysteMALEtizing Resources for Engaging Men in Sexual and Reproductive Health: Introduction

The growing number of programs engaging men in reproductive health reflects exciting changes in the field. Men are central to sexual and reproductive health and the surge in programs reflects an appreciation of how working with them contributes to their health and the health of their partners and children, and, potentially, to broader equity objectives.

Why Spend Limited Resources on Men?

Decades of research on reproductive and child health show that everyone can benefit when men are thoughtfully engaged. Programs may address men’s own needs, providing them with information, skills, and services that improve their health. The information and skills can help men be more respectful, communicative, and supportive in their sexual partnerships. Women themselves often ask that reproductive health programs work with men.

Some programs work to develop men’s capacity as fathers, providing them with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to be more involved with their children. International data on men’s use of physical violence against women suggest that working with men could both reduce this violence and improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes. An overarching benefit of all of these activities, when they are conducted with sensitivity to social inequities, is that they can contribute to gender equity and to broader development objectives.

And why might men want to take more of an active role in sexual and reproductive health? Somewhat surprisingly, there are many reasons. Men want information and usually have little access to it. They recognize the risks that their behavior and lack of information pose to their own health. They are concerned with the health of their partners. They wish for improved relationships with their children. And many of them recognize the importance of human rights, including women’s rights.

How Best toWork With Men: Making Sense of Available Resources

Distinguishing among the number and diversity of programs, research, and tools is daunting. Which provide the best examples? What criteria can we use to select the most interesting models? It is hard to know where to begin.

This brochure lays out key resources for working with men, organized to make them easy to access and apply to current work. It provides a framework for distinguishing among varied programs, and illustrates the range with strong examples. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the resources on men and reproductive health. It is an attempt to systematize what is available, and to explain some of the huge variability in existing materials. The brochure provides guidance for how male engagement can be a lens through which communities question norms about masculinity and programs integrate approaches to gender equity. The categories into which the materials are organized are not mutually exclusive, and some publications appear more than once. This has been done so that whatever users’ primary interests are, they can find the most helpful and relevant resources for their work.

Disclaimer. This brochure was prepared by the Population Reference Bureau for the Interagency Gender Working Group (IGWG), with funding provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the BRIDGE project (GPO-A-00-00004-00). This document presents the work of many authors and organizations as they relate to the constructive engagement of men and boys. The contents of the publication and the links herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interagency Gender Working Group, USAID, or the Population Reference Bureau or its sponsors.