1st Edition

Involving Men in Ending Violence against Women Development, Gender and VAW in Times of Conflict

By Joyce Wu Copyright 2018
    156 Pages 6 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    144 Pages 6 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Involving men to stop violence against women is a global trend, with celebrity-endorsed campaigns such as HeforShe and White Ribbon being hailed as progress in changing male behaviour. But the question remains: Has men’s involvement resulted in positive change, or has it reinforced the belief that women need to be rescued by men?

    Involving Men in Ending Violence against Women provides a feminist analysis of men’s motivations for joining violence against women’s movement. Through extensive fieldwork in Afghanistan, Pakistan and East Timor, this innovative title explores the roles men play in violence against women programs. Indeed, while there are growing voices that question male advocacy and activism in the violence against women campaign, this is the first monograph which provides empirical and critical analysis of how men’s feminist involvement is translated into benevolent patriarchy.

    Seeking to subvert mainstream narratives which accept male activism without questions, this controversial yet enlightening title will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, including postdoctoral researchers, interested in fields such as Gender and Sexualities, Political Science, Feminist Studies and Southeast Asian Studies.

    List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

    List of Figures, Tables, and Maps

    Chapter 1. Introduction

    1.1 How I Got Involved

    1.2 What is "Violence against Women"?

    1.3 How Violence against Women Became a Development Issue

    1.4 Feminist Contributions to Understanding and Responding to Men’s Violence against Women

    1.5 Men’s Role in Ending Violence against Women

    1.6 Men’s Responsibility to End Violence against Women — the Ethical Argument

    1.7 Men’s Interests in Ending Violence against Women — The Incentive Argument

    1.8 Rationale for the Focus on Conflict and Post-Conflict Contexts

    1.9 Business as Usual: Violence against women during conflict and post-conflict situations

    1.10 Book Structure

    Chapter 2. The Alliance between Men and Anti-Violence against Women Initiatives, and Researching About It in Conflict Settings

    2.1 Strategies for Involving Men: Framing the recruitment message to increase men’s interests in violence against women programs

    2.2 Going Native: Using local cultural or religious frameworks to encourage men’s participation in violence against women programs

    2.3 Framing men’s anti-violence against women initiatives within conflict and post-conflict situations

    2.4 Fieldwork Preparation

    2.5 Fieldwork Locations and Security Matters

    2.5 Partnering with Host Organisations and Minimising Security Risks

    2.6 The Rationale for Qualitative Research Method and Feminist Perspective Analysis

    2.7 Critical Self-Reflection as a Researcher and Outsider

    2.8 Interviewing Experiences

    2.9 Conclusion

    Chapter 3. From Cockfighting to Martial Arts: The Timor Leste Story

    3.1 Violence against Women in Timor Leste: The forms and extent of the situation

    3.2 Causes and Contributing Factors towards Violence against Women in Timor Leste since 2000

    3.2.1 Cultural Beliefs and Practices

    3.2.2 The Role of the Catholic Church in Women’s Status and Gender Relations

    3.3 Stakeholders and Organisations Working on Anti-Violence against Women in Timor Leste

    3.4 Activities and Organisations that Work with Men and Boys in Violence against Women Initiatives

    3.5 Reality Check: A researcher caught in the troubled waters of aid politics and own expectations *

    3.6 Re-thinking the Research Focus

    3.7 Tension between Partners and Stakeholders and Aid Politics

    3.8 Impact of the Catholic Church upon Gender Programs

    3.9 Cultural Norms and Practices which Discriminate against Women — Observation from Oecussi

    3.10 Violence and Culture: Case studies of martial art school and manu futu

    3.11 Case Studies of Individual Men’s Activism on Gender Equality

    3.12 Conclusion

    Chapter 4. "Please tell the world about us": Fieldwork findings from Pakistan

    4.1 Violence against Women in Pakistan: Extent and current legislation

    4.2 Causes and Contributing Factors towards Violence against Women in Pakistan: Cultural beliefs and practices

    4.3 Stakeholders and Organisations Working on Violence against Women in Pakistan

    4.4 Dilemmas for NGOs "doing gender" in Pakistan and the Contradiction of Identity Politics and Values

    4.4.1 Weak Response from Law Enforcement

    4.4.2 Parallel Legal Systems and Their Impact upon Women

    4.4.3 Hostility Towards Gender Equality and Women’s Rights

    4.4.4. Balancing Between Women’s Issues and Involving Men

    4.5 Resistor of Male Dominance or Gender-Sensitive Patriarchy?: A case study from the Humqadam Project

    4.6 Case Study from Oxfam Great Britain’s We Can Campaign

    4.6.1 Funding and Ownership of We Can

    4.6.2 The Premise of We Can

    4.6.3 From Smoking Addiction to Violence against Women: The transtheoretical model, its applications, and its limitations

    4.6.4 Recruitment Strategies Used by ‘We Can’ Partner Organisations

    4.6.5 The Gender Dimension of Change Makers’ Activism

    4.6.6 We Can Campaign’s Challenges and Issues

    4.6.7 Social Divisions amongst Change Makers

    4.6.8 Inequality among the Change Makers

    4.6.9 Oxfam Great Britain’s Evaluation of We Can Campaign in Pakistan

    4.8 Conclusion

    Chapter 5. A "Good and Suitable" Muslim Man: Fieldwork in Afghanistan

    5.1 Global Debates about the Women in Afghanistan

    5.2 Violence against Women: The context in Afghanistan

    5.3 The Challenges for Afghan NGOs and Activists Working on Violence against Women

    5.4 Power Politics of the Aid Partnership

    5.5 "How to do Gender" in Afghanistan

    5.6 "Happy Family and Healthy Community" Project

    5.7 Potential Impact on Feminist Space and Gender Norms

    5.8 "Afghanistan is not ready for men to work on gender": A case study of an Afghan man’s role as gender program manager

    5.10 Conclusion

    Chapter 6. Conclusion: Not a Man’s Work

    Bibliography

    Annex 1. Research Methodology

    Data Collection

    Interview Questions

    Analysis of the Data

    Biography

    Joyce Wu is a Research Fellow at the Australian National University, Australia