WUNRN
Website Link Includes Video
LEBANON - ENGAGING MEN TO STOP
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Elahe Amani – WNN Features
(WNN)
To find out more, WNN – Women News Network reporter Elahe Amani interviewed ABAAD director Ghida Anani, along with Anthony Keedi, Director of ABAAD’s new ‘Men Center’ which is located in Lebanon’s capital city of Beirut.
_________
Elahe Amani for WNN – Women News Network: Can you share
with us the notion behind ABAAD’s recent nationwide media campaign in
Ghida Anani with Anthony Keedi:
The slogan “We are willing – and here – to listen” has a double meaning… “Someone is speaking to you in an abusive manner.” While men have long been addressed as perpetrators, now they are also being addressed as ‘partners in prevention.’ Many studies have argued that in associating men with violence, we should also ensure that men are part of the solution.
The IMC – International Medical Corps
and the ABAAD –
The
The IMC with ABAAD took the
initiative to establish the
WNN: What do you think is the current perception of violence in the community where ABAAD is offering its services? Do the ideas that are used in the program to define violence include verbal, emotional and psychological abuse as well?
Ghida with Anthony:
We asked ourselves this very same
question when formulating our strategies for engaging men in attaining GE –
Gender Equality and ending GBV – Gender Based Violence. We decided that the
best way to know the perceptions of the people in
ABAAD and the IMC are [also]
currently overseeing a nation-wide research study – “Perceptions of Masculinity
and Domestic Violence.” The participants of this study will be: both Lebanese
and Iraqi Refugee men and women residing in
The results of this study will be published within the next few months and the answer to your question (as well as ours) will be from the mouths of the men and women from our culture themselves.
We would like to add that our campaign, as well as all of ABAAD’s work, does not focus on one type of violence. All forms of GBV – Gender Based Violence exists in our society. They are all unacceptable and are always the focus of our messages.
WNN: In your campaign announcement you mentioned the importance of “partnering with men” as a main condition to sustain efforts to combating violence. Can you share your thoughts on how you would like to make this possible?
Ghida with Anthony:
The question is not ‘how is it possible to partner with men?” but “how…without partnering with men?”
In order to truly make sustainable advances towards a ‘gender equal’ society both genders must be addressed. Both genders must understand the prescriptive gender roles that have been placed upon them since birth.
The women’s empowerment movement is making real and visible advances in this respect, but the work is lacking for men. Men are largely unaware of the goals behind gender initiatives and might misunderstand them. As an added difficulty many women’s human rights initiatives in the region…depict men as the ‘opposition’ to women’s rights.
Often men have expressed that they feel that they are personally being blamed or attacked. In actuality it is the overall system that is to blame. Men and women are both raised according to that system. This is why men’s awareness is vital for sustainable development in gender issues. We need to include men as the targets of our messages and understand that they too are products of a flawed system. When men are regarded as partners and not as the ‘opposing gender,’ men’s resistance or apathy for gender issues will decrease.
Eventually men must play roles in all
of the different ways of combating GBV – Gender Based Violence. This is why
ABAAD is piloting this work through: mass media campaigns; services such as the
WNN: As you know the
Ghida with Anthony:
Our Strategy for having men embrace
the concept of the
We understand that men have been raised with the idea that it is shameful for them to cry, share their feelings too openly (if at all) and to ask for help. They have also been told that an unfavorable, but acceptable, reaction to stress in their lives is to lose their temper. They react with anger. This may display itself in many forms, but primarily through physical or verbal violence. When one is raised with these notions it is understandable that they act in this fashion as fully grown adults.
Empathizing with men in our society,
understanding the way that men are raised in our culture and communicating that
the inability to emotionally express and speak openly about such issues is
psychologically unhealthy for themselves and their loved ones, is a key message
of the
It is this message, with time, that will allow men to feel comfortable to call the center (keeping in mind that the phone call, and sessions of the center are anonymous, confidential, and cost free). Then, it is the task of the professionals within the center, and the work done with the men that call, that will prove the worth of such an initiative.
WNN: As you know in
Ghida with Anthony:
Yes, we believe that the experiences
of such organizations can be utilized in our work. In preparing for our work,
we reviewed the actions and the available resources of organizations outside of
the
Learning from, and building upon, the experiences of these organizations are imperative for the success of our goals. We will continue to seek out these organizations as partners, mentors, and friends. We have, in fact, already set plans in motion to begin open discussions on masculinities and the work on engaging men in the fight for gender equality with leading figures from these organizations.
That being said, we are also very
aware to the different cultures and contexts in which these organizations
operate. We inherently believe that the work must be guided by our experiences
from initiatives and research conducted in
WNN: Do you feel violence against women is the cause, or the consequence, of gender inequality? Is there a way to dismantle what many call ‘the patriarchal order’ in the complex web of masculinities that distribute more privilege to men than women?
Ghida with Anthony:
As your question aptly stated, the current patriarchal order is a ‘complex web’ of different factors. The solutions for transforming this order is also a ‘complex web’ of different factors. To mention and articulate all of these different factors would require space and explanation far beyond what we could offer in this article. This complex web includes the gender work of both women and men.
Women’s gender roles, specifically those that are contrary to gender equality, have endured despite decades of hard work by brave women in the field. Herein lays the importance of working toward a ‘partnership’ of men and women together in the work on gender issues. The relationship in working on gender roles is a reciprocal one. As work on women’s empowerment continues to grow, the work with men on gender issues will strengthen that work, making it a sustainable strategy for attaining gender equality in our culture.
Women’s roles are changing. This should not be threatening for men. It is, in fact, quite the opposite. Men now have the opportunity to develop and change in order to enjoy a partnership with this ‘new breed of women’. With this men can break the traditional gender roles that have hindered their growth, forcing them to play roles and not play roles that society has dictated, rather than just being themselves.
This is why mens’ awareness of gender roles is so imperative. From fighting wars, carrying the sole financial burden of the family, to not being allowed to express their emotions, these gender roles are not good for men either.
This partnership between the genders can only strengthen and enhance the lives of all men, women, boys and girls in our culture. It is an ultimate win-win scenario. Men and women side-by-side, as equal partners.
___________________________________________________________________
“Be a Man. Real Men Raise their
Voice…Against Violence”
Men Saying No to Violence Against Women Campaign,
Lebanon
With this new TV Commercial, “Louder….”, ABAAD continues their positive message for the partnership of women and men for Gender Equality. Building off of the success of the “With all my force against violence” national campaign, this TVC asks men and women to “Raise their voice louder” in their declarations for Gender Equality.
This TVC stresses that the message of Engaging Men in ending Violence Against Women (VAW) has to be a positive one. Until now in initiatives for women’s human rights in the Middle East, men are only depicted as the perpetrators of Domestic Violence (DV). Although this may be the closest picture to the reality of DV in the Middle East, relaying this message has not only become a cliché, but can actually increase male resistance and defensiveness to the issue. Furthermore, messages where men are only perpetrators of DV run the very dangerous risk of creating such a close association between men and DV, that the terms become synonymous with one another.
Hence, ABAAD-Resource Center for Gender Equality, with its national and international partners, and with the financial support of Urgent Action Fund, continues the revolutionary journey towards using positive psychology to foster male allies in the world of women’s human rights. This TVC, like its predecessor, does not focus on blaming the males in our society who are the perpetrators of DV. Rather, this TVC praises the men in our society who are against the gender biases and who are active in the fight to end VAW. This TVC supports men who, like their female counterparts, refuse to remain silent about the issue of VAW and gender inequalities in our countries.
This TVC continues what has come to be known in the field of study of masculinities and gender as ‘positive masculinity’. ABAAD has dedicated itself to this positive approach of inspiring change. This latest installment joins the “With all my force against violence”, “Beating is Shameful”, and the “we are here to listen” campaigns in celebrating the important influence that cultured, dedicated, and socially conscious men can have in ending VAW. With this respect, belief, optimism, and hope we plan on cultivating a culture of men who believe in Gender Equality, and will form a partnership with women in our society to work side by side to end VAW in the Middle East.
You can watch the TV Spot on the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhF33MtM-os&list=PL68ECF50CE50746B8&index=1&feature=plpp_video
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABAAD-Resource Center for Gender Equality
P.O.Box: 50-048 Beirut-Lebanon
Mob (office): +961 (70) 28 38 20
Men Center: +961 (71) 28 38 20
Tel/fax: +961 (1) 28 38 20; +961 (1) 28 38 21
Email: abaad@abaadmena.org
Web: www.abaadmena.org