‘Men Should be Focused to Decrease Gender Violence’
By Mona Khan

ISLAMABAD—Men and boys need to be sensitized to decrease gender based violence in Pakistan. This was stated by Mr. Riaz Akhtar, National Project Director, Gender Justice Through Musalihat Anjuman Project (GJTMAP).
He was addressing the concluding session of a three day training workshop “on strategies and tools for working with Men & Boys to end Gender Based Violence”. The training was organized by Sahil in collaboration with MenEngage Pakistan Secretariat and GJTMAP.
The workshop brought together 30 participants from partner organizations across Pakistan to find ways to engage boys and men in questioning narrow definitions and perceptions of gender roles and relations that often lead to violence. The stakeholders, including the Government, civil society, academia, etc. need to work together to address the menace of gender violence, said Mr. Hamid Raza Afridi, National Project Manager GJTMAP and Focal Person of the secretariat, while thanking the organizers, regional level facilitators, Mr. Saghir Bokhari and Ms. Shoma F. Jabeen and the participants. He hoped that the participants would act as agents of change to address the issues, making use of the skills developed and experiences shared at the workshop.
It was discussed in the workshop that discrimination and violence against women and children requires more attention than what has been forthcoming from decision-makers and the development sector. A number of initiatives exist in the area of women and girls’ empowerment, but there is inadequate attention to build partnership with boys and men to promote gender equality and to address various forms of violence against girls and boys. Boys and men are not the problem! A patriarchal society often provides boys and men with a sense of power. It also makes them a victim by pressuring them to conform to a particular social milieu. It is social constructions, adult’s attitudes, and their inputs on boys’ socialisation which is the problem. Boys and men, girls and boys are not born violent, they are socialised into a culture of violence. There is a critical need to make boys and men the subject of a gender discourse, with issues of socialisation processes, fears, patriarchal pressures, violence and performance anxieties.
On the positive side, the fact that not all boys are violent gives a hope for changing the world. This fact could be the resource for building interventions and partnerships with young people on gender-based violence. In fact, all over the world, there are many inspiring examples of boys and men coming together to end violence and promote gender equality.