Men and Boys

An analysis of new findings from the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) affirms that an integrated approach – one that experts say should aim to prevent violence by addressing men's risk factors – is key to reducing men's use of violence against women.

Initial findings from the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) – to be released today – illustrate the varied experiences that lead some men to physically or sexually abuse an intimate female partner. The three-year study consisted of nearly 12,000 interviews with men and women ages 18 to 59 in Brazil, Chile, Croatia, India, Mexico and Rwanda about their health practices, parenting, relationship dynamics, sexual behavior and use of violence.

Researchers crafted the questions about violence based on existing data on the correlation between men’s use of violence, their experiences with it during childhood and social norms that dictate how they should act. While there have been numerous studies on men and violence, IMAGES provides a deeper look at factors associated with why some men are violent against women. Researchers asked men detailed questions about their experiences with violence as an observer and perpetrator. Women were interviewed on the matter, too.

“There are numerous social and cultural factors that contribute to men’s use of violence,” said ICRW’s Gary Barker, lead researcher on IMAGES. “Our methodology on IMAGES allowed us to explore a broad range of these with men and compare men’s responses with women’s from the same settings. This gave us a more accurate assessment of the factors and extent of violence.”

Experts say programs and policies that work to end violence against women could be more effective by understanding how some men view violence and the sometimes invisible social factors that drive their behavior.

“To truly reduce violence, program designers and policy makers should consider how to create more comprehensive interventions that take into account such things as men’s attitudes about gender, their childhood experiences of violence, their work-related stress and their use of alcohol,” said Barker, who in February will become international director of Instituto Promundo, a Brazilian nongovernmental organization that coordinates the Men and Gender Equality Policy Project with ICRW. IMAGES is a component of this project.

Contributing factors

To measure men’s use of violence against a partner, IMAGES applied a slightly modified version of the approach used in a pioneering 2005 World Health Organization (WHO) study on domestic violence. The 10-country study yielded some of the first comprehensive, multi-site data on the various forms of violence women experience at the hands of a male partner and its consequences. Ten to 70 percent of women surveyed said they had been physically abused by an intimate partner at some point in their lives.

For IMAGES, researchers asked men about specific types of violence, such as slapping, against their female partners. Women also were asked about their experiences with the same forms of violence. Between 25 to nearly 40 percent of the men surveyed said they had been violent with an intimate partner. Meanwhile, 27 to 41 percent of women said they had been abused by a man at least once in their lives, suggesting that in most cases, men’s reports of the violence they used were fairly accurate.

IMAGES results across all countries also showed that men who generally view themselves as superior to women are more likely to report physical and sexual violence against an intimate partner. The same was true for men who abused alcohol, witnessed violence in their childhood home and, except for Mexicans surveyed, those who felt stressed about work or income. Rwandan men were not asked about work stress.

“The IMAGES findings make an important contribution to existing knowledge about gender-based violence by bringing in men's perspectives about their experiences of violence in diverse settings, as well as their attitudes about women’s rights and roles within the household," said ICRW's Mary Ellsberg, vice president of research and programs and co-author of the WHO domestic violence study. "We hope to do additional analysis of the data in the future, to compare the experiences and attitudes of both men and women around these issues."

Laws about violence

Many governments worldwide are increasingly adopting legislation to combat violence against women. It’s the policy issue that has received the most attention in efforts, including by ICRW, to involve men in creating more equitable societies. And, IMAGES found it’s the issue most men have heard about, either through an advertisement or campaign.

Between 88 and 96 percent of men surveyed said they knew about laws related to violence against women in their countries, however this does not correlate with a decrease in their use of violence against their wives or girlfriends. IMAGES also shows the contradictory attitudes men have about existing laws related to violence: Despite their knowledge of the laws, the vast majority of men also thinks the laws make it too easy to bring charges against them.

“Given the relatively small number of men actually charged under those laws in all the countries, this opinion is a misperception,” Barker said. He added that IMAGES results suggest that some men don’t understand anti-violence policies and may see the laws as being against them. “We may need more long-term, nuanced public education targeting men about the laws."

Far fewer men surveyed for IMAGES reported hearing messages about other themes that might interest them, or that they might perceive as positive, such as promoting that men participate in care giving and be more involved fathers.

“While we can’t let men off the hook in terms of violence, we also need to consider the source of men’s violence,” Barker said. “Our policies need to understand these factors and design prevention strategies accordingly.”

Gillian Gaynair is ICRW’s writer/editor.

New findings on men’s attitudes and practices from the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) show that men who regularly experience stress over not having enough work or income are more likely to be involved in criminal activity, have suicidal thoughts and use violence, including violence against women. And although the majority of these men were unemployed or underemployed, substantial numbers of men with stable employment also reported similar stress.

The initial findings emerge from an analysis of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), a three-year, multi-country study conducted among men and women ages 18 to 59. The gender attitudes survey covered health practices, parenting, relationship dynamics, sexual behavior and use of violence. Questions about work-related stress were asked of men in urban settings in Brazil, Chile, Croatia, India and Mexico. Overall, between 34 percent (Brazil) and 88 percent (Mexico) of men experienced stress or depression about not having enough work or income.

ICRW experts say the data illustrate the need for policies and programs to address men’s experiences, including how they internalize societal expectations of work and their role as primary income providers. This, they say, is particularly important in the midst of a global recession that has devastated industries traditionally dominated by men and as women enter the workforce in unprecedented numbers.

“Across cultures, men commonly derive their identities from work and the social expectation that they are providers,” said ICRW’s Gary Barker, lead researcher of the analysis. “But the idea that men are sole breadwinners is increasingly unrealistic in today’s societies.”

Work stress links to harmful practices

IMAGES aimed to understand men’s perceptions of their socio-economic situation by going beyond basic questions about their employment status and household income. All men interviewed were asked if they felt stressed or depressed about not having enough work or income. 

Researchers found that men across the spectrum of employment status and income level reported experiencing this stress in large numbers. While unemployed men and low-income earners are more likely to report this stress in most countries, IMAGES data affirm that the experience of feeling pressure to work and earn more does not disappear when men hold stable jobs or earn comparatively high salaries. Furthermore, these experiences have important effects on the lives of men and their families.   

“What we found was that the shame and frustration men feel about a lack of work or income – perceived or real – creates vulnerabilities for men and those around them,” Barker said.

Indeed, results show clear associations between men’s reported stress and harmful practices such as violence against female partners, criminal behavior and suicidal thoughts. Among men in four countries – Chile, Croatia, India and Mexico – reports of economic stress were associated at statistically significant levels with committing physical violence against a female partner.

Other trends in the data, to be released on Jan. 26, show that work stress also was linked to sexual violence, transactional sex and criminal activity. And in all five countries, men who experienced work-related stress considered suicide far more often than other male peers who did not express stress over work or income.

Among unemployed men, between 35 percent (Brazil) and 77 percent (India) said they were ashamed to face their family, considered leaving their family or stayed away from their family because they were out of work. At the same time, unemployed men were much more likely to report being involved in the daily care of children, suggesting that some men are carrying out such activities even if they may not be finding a sense of identity in this role.

Interestingly, even among men who say their work situation is mostly stable, 26 percent (Brazil) to 91 percent (Mexico) say they frequently feel such stress.

“The fact that so many men reported experiences of stress and depression related to work and income, including those with permanent, high-paying jobs, underscores the widespread influence of the ‘man as primary financial provider’ norm,” said ICRW’s Manuel Contreras, a gender and public health specialist who co-authored the report.

Changing the norms

ICRW experts say the IMAGES findings echo previous research on how restrictive definitions of manhood, especially those tied to the primary financial provider role, have negative influences on communities, families and men themselves.

“IMAGES is among the first studies to test the influence of work stress across broad categories of men’s attitudes and behaviors,” said Brian Heilman, a program associate at ICRW who helped analyze the IMAGES data and is a co-author of the report. “We hope that its findings will prompt additional research on the power of this norm.”

Meanwhile, ICRW experts say policies that reflect the gendered realities of both women and men will help spur change. Barker said this is particularly timely, as traditional gender roles are shifting in many countries: more women are working outside the home and more men are becoming active in family life. These shifts have the potential to yield societal benefits. IMAGES data also showed that men who take on more traditionally feminine roles such as domestic duties and child rearing were also less likely to use violence against a partner, and their partners were generally more satisfied in their relationships with the men.   

Paternity leave is one such example of a policy that can help change society’s views of men as solely providers by offering incentives for men to become more involved in their children’s lives. For example, generous leave policies in Denmark, Norway and Iceland have been shown to have a striking impact on gender roles, paternal bonds with young children and lower divorce rates. IMAGES found about 37 percent of men in six study countries (including Rwanda) took some type of paternity leave but for far less than the length of time allowed by national policies, which were generally limited. Younger men and men with more education were more likely to take leave.  

Policies to engage men in prenatal care and childbirth are other ways to promote men’s sense of connection to their children.  IMAGES data from Chile showed that more than 90 percent of the younger generation of fathers were present in the delivery room of their last child, largely a result of a national health policy to “humanize” the birth process.

“Change is happening, more slowly in some places than others, but it is happening” said Barker. “It’s an important reminder that norms about what it means to be a man or woman can – and do – change. Further analysis of these results will help us understand more about how such change happens and how it might be sped up with appropriate policies.”

* Next week: IMAGES findings on factors associated with violence against women.

Sandy Won is ICRW's strategic communications manager.

The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) on Jan. 26 will release the results of a three-year, multi-country household survey that offers one of the most comprehensive analyses to date of men’s attitudes and practices on a variety of topics related to gender equality. It also includes women’s opinions of men’s behavior.

ICRW and its partners interviewed more than 8,000 men and 3,500 women about their intimate relationships, health practices, parenting, sexual behavior and use of violence for the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES). The questionnaire was conducted in one to three cities in Brazil, Chile, Croatia, India and Mexico and in urban and rural settings in Rwanda.

“This is the first survey of its size to offer a comprehensive picture of what men think and do,” said Gary Barker, who spearheaded IMAGES and directs ICRW’s programs that involve men and boys. “These initial results really just scratch the surface. But it provides a needed starting point – one that uses statistical rigor and evidence – to help inform practitioners’ work with men as allies in women’s empowerment and gender equality.”

The results also can help shape policies and programs aimed at fostering more equity between women and men, Barker said.

Over the past 15 years, engaging men in efforts to achieve gender equality and help improve women’s health, economic and social status has gained increasing recognition from civil society organizations to the United Nations. A key element of this global agenda to create more equitable societies involves trying to change the social norms that influence men’s use of violence, how they participate in family life and how they treat women overall.

Initial findings from IMAGES suggest that men in all countries except India and Rwanda support more equitable relationships and opportunities between women and men. Age plays a factor, too, with young men showing more support for gender equality and more just treatment of women. Among its results, the study also found that men who view women as their equals are more likely to be happy, communicate well with their partners and have better sex lives.

Overall, IMAGES results demonstrate the complex – and at times contradictory – nature of men’s behavior. And they suggest that while most men accept the notion of gender equality and understand it intellectually, they don’t necessarily change their behaviors – at least not quickly.

“Men’s ideas about gender are far more complex than what we think,” said Ravi Verma, director of ICRW’s Asia Regional Office and an author of the report. “By having a better understanding of their attitudes and factors that determine these practices – and IMAGES helps with that – we’ll be able to design more relevant programs that meet men where they are in terms of living a more ‘gender equitable’ life.”

How it worked

IMAGES is a component of the Men and Gender Equality Policy Project. Led by ICRW and the Brazilian nongovernmental organization, Promundo, the project aims to provide evidence for how to change public policies so they may encourage more equity between men and women. The effort also includes a multi-country policy analysis, “What Men Have to Do with It: Public Policies to Promote Gender Equality,” published in 2010 by ICRW and Promundo.

For IMAGES, 250 questions were posed to men and slightly fewer to women ages 18 to 59. They were framed around an understanding that gender is not only about women, but rather the relations and power dynamics between and among women and men. Through the survey, researchers sought to learn more about how men are socialized into certain roles, and how those roles may change over time and in different social contexts – all while men interact daily with women. Within that vein, the survey also examines men’s perceptions of manhood and the pressures they feel to adhere to societal expectations. The study pays particular attention to the stress men feel from the expectation that they must be financial providers for their families.

Researchers designed questions around selected topics that covered the intimate and family relationships between men and women as well as issues related to men’s health and lifestyle. These topics included employment, education, attitudes toward women, parenting and use of violence, among others.

Men and women from the same neighborhoods, but not the same households, were interviewed for IMAGES. This was primarily to protect women: the survey contains numerous questions about violence that were asked of both men and women. ICRW followed ethical guidelines established by the World Health Organization which recommend not interviewing couples, since it might lead to women under-reporting violence or suffering reprisals from a violent partner for disclosing his use of violence. 

Finally, IMAGES was carried out in countries that represented diverse geographic regions and that already had some efforts underway to involve men in work that promotes gender equality. Research partners in each location also had strong relationships with civil society groups and policymakers in their respective countries.

Initial findings, next steps

Although new policies and laws have been enacted over the last decade to help create more equitable societies, ICRW researchers say that initial data from IMAGES demonstrate that laws alone don’t lead to behavior change.

“Men are increasingly aware of shifts toward greater gender equality in their countries and communities – they are aware of laws against domestic violence, for instance, and generally feel that ‘men don’t lose out’ in the pursuit of gender equality,” said Manuel Contreras, an ICRW gender and public health specialist and an author of the IMAGES report. “At the same time, this awareness does not always coincide with changes in men’s individual behaviors.” 

The information provided by IMAGES fills a gap in knowledge about men, he said, and provides a blueprint for how to shape or revise policies and improve existing programs.

Among the survey’s key findings:

• Younger and more educated men adhered less to restrictive social norms around manhood and demonstrated behavior that upheld women as their equals.
• Men who felt stress or depression about work or income harbored more suicidal thoughts and reported more use of violence against women. This occurred at a statistically significant level in four of the countries studied.
• While women continue to do more child care work and domestic activities, unemployed men and younger men are participating more than is commonly acknowledged.
• In Brazil, Chile, Croatia and Mexico, men with higher education levels were more likely to accompany their partner to prenatal visits.
• Women with partners who share in domestic duties reported that they are more sexually satisfied.
• Rwandan and Indian men showed the most inequitable attitudes. For instance, 61 percent of men in Rwanda and more than 80 percent of men in India agreed that changing diapers and feeding children are the mother's responsibility.
• In all six countries, men reported more use of violence against their intimate partners if they experienced violence in their childhood, are stressed at work, abuse alcohol and view women as subservient to them.

The study's initial findings are just a beginning: IMAGES also will be carried out in 2011 in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, an effort that will be coordinated by Partners for Prevention, a joint program of the United Nations. Yet even as the results from more countries will expand researchers’ understanding of men’s attitudes and behaviors, experts say a deeper comparative analysis is needed of the initial data.

“IMAGES gives us a good sense of where men are at the moment, which seems to be one foot toward accepting gender equality and one foot stuck in rigid, inequitable views,” Barker said. “We need more research like this, over time, to assess how much men are truly changing toward accepting and living gender equality and how we can speed up that change.”

* Next week: A snapshot of IMAGES data from India.

Gillian Gaynair is ICRW’s writer/editor.

I saw a sign in a London tube station that read: “Women are from Earth, Men are from Earth. Deal with it.” We may have moved beyond Mars and Venus, but the “men versus women” debate rages on. The economic downturn, coupled with women’s rising dominance in the labor force, has spawned new arguments on the “he-cession,” "The End of Men,” and the latest, in a recent Newsweek cover story, “Men's Lib.” Unfortunately, the thinking still too often goes that men are getting their comeuppance while women are finally getting ahead.

But is it really a zero-sum game? Should men’s perceived losses mean women’s gains and vice versa? I don’t think so. What’s occurring here is a redefinition of manhood, one that’s sparking a long-overdue shift toward more equity between men and women – in relationships, at home, and in the workplace. And that’s a good thing. It’s a shift that’s happening not only in developed countries like the U.S. and Sweden, but very slowly, too, in developing nations. For corners of the world mired in poverty, HIV and high maternal mortality rates, this reshaping of men’s roles can have a profound effect. When men work more alongside women, it can help reduce disease and violence as well as boost economies.

In my work with men and boys around the globe, I’ve found that to empower women, especially the world’s poorest women, it’s critical to work with men. Men can be engaged as caregivers – for their partners’ and their own health – as well as allies with women in achieving equality. They’ll indeed change their behaviors to strengthen women and support equality. And when men and women share power and responsibility, their lives improve.

For instance, I remember interviewing men who participated in a community loan program in rural Rwanda that initially was geared toward women. Then the program started including men. One participant, a disabled 44-year-old subsistence farmer, like his wife, told me:

“Men in my community thought I was controlled by my wife because I let her go out by herself and have her freedom when she was coming to the savings and loan group. But then I joined too. We invest together and we make even more money. I have confidence in myself. I don’t feel so self-conscious about my limp any more. And my wife seems to me more beautiful than she used to be, and our children are happier.”

From Brazil and Mexico to India and South Africa, we’ve collected stories of men who provide care for their children or relatives or who are involved in advocacy or activism to promote women’s rights. They are all roles that still too often contradict the expectations of men in those societies – for example, that domestic duties and caring for children are solely the work of women. In India, men in low-income areas reported doing housework when their wives were working or ill. They often did this with the curtains closed so their male peers would not ridicule them. They said that they – and their wives – were happier when they collaborated.

Governments can help foster such collaboration, too. Paternity leave, such as the generous one Sweden gives its fathers, is just one example. But it’s not only about men and work. Public policies also can have a role in changing social norms around what it means to be a man. Legislation can encourage men to participate more in caring for their children or in reducing violence. Policies also can help alter traditional expectations about men seeking health services or about who takes responsibility for a couple’s sexual health.

It will not be easy to achieve gender equality and to end the disadvantages women have long faced. But couples, communities and even countries are figuring it out. They’re finally realizing that “gender” is not shorthand for “women” only; gender equality requires working with women and men to benefit both of them. After all, studies show that the majority of the world’s adults live in cohabitating relationships, apparently like it that way and want to have children together. Most have figured out that cooperation is better than competition.   

The biggest challenge may be in our heads.

On a visit to an African country, I met with a United Nations representative working on women’s rights. As I handed her my business card, she looked surprised to see a man holding a senior post at a women’s research organization.

“So now you’re even taking our jobs in promoting women’s rights,” she said, half-joking, half-not.

 “Well, I see it this way,” I told her, “men can also work in gender equality so that women such as you can run for parliament and implement the policies we’re all advocating for.”

She looked at me as if I were from Mars.

Gary Barker directs ICRW’s work on gender, violence and rights.