November 25 is White Ribbon Day. The White Ribbon Campaign is a male-led campaign to end violence against women. Men are encouraged to take a stand and say that violence, in any form, is never acceptable.
James Lang, Coordinator of Partners for Prevention, blogs about why it is important to engage men in ending violence against women.
***
P4P, along with the well-known author and trainer, Professor Raewyn Connell of the University of Sydney, have developed an online training module on how to conduct life history qualitative research. This training module was compiled during a one-day clinic “Skills Building on Life History Research” held in Bangkok on 26 April, and organized by P4P.
The South Asian Network to Address Masculinities (SANAM) is offering a fellowship programme, 'Understanding Masculinities: Culture, Politics and Social Change,' to build a resource pool of men, women and transgender persons with the knowledge base and skills to challenge harmful masculinities in different social settings.
Acts of sexual violence committed by truckers, honour killings and the migration patterns of Pakistani men after marrying western women - these were just some of the complex issues addressed in projects finalized by fellows who were chosen and trained by the South Asian Network to Address Masculinities (SANAM).
The Regional Learning Community (RLC), a grouping of gender justice practitioners, activists and academics from the East and Southeast Asian region, are fostering greater critical consciousness and analysis of gender justice in the region. Over the past two years, the RLC has created an egalitarian, inclusive and empowering learning space for practitioners from the region to share their knowledge and experience.
A school-based violence prevention project was launched on 9 July, in Da Nang, Viet Nam, by PyD in conjunction with the central city's Department of Education and Training. The project aims to create an enabling environment within schools for gender violence prevention and mitigation through advocacy among students, teachers, students' clubs, and policy makers.
New feature films and documentaries from South Asia will promote reflection and discussion among young people regarding gender, masculinities and violence. The Let's Talk Men 2.0 film series, which was supported by P4P, IPPF, CARE International and other partners, will inspire reflection on masculinities, violence and other themes as they play out in five South Asian countries: Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
P4P is helping to test the use of social media platforms in campaigns to prevent GBV in the Asia-Pacific region. Social media can be a powerful tool for engaging young people with violence prevention efforts, but it has its limitations.
Partners for Prevention (P4P), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Medical Research Council South Africa (MRC), are working together to improve the skills and understanding of practitioners regarding primary prevention of gender-based violence (GBV). The three partners recently concluded a second annual regional training week in Bangkok that was attended by 50 practitioners from 11 countries across the Asia-Pacific region.
Vietnamese musician and gender-rights advocate Pham Anh Khoa lent his support to a social media campaign, ‘Love Journey,’ that focused on healthy relationship skills among youth and encouraged them to take on the cause of gender justice.
“I believe respect, trust, understanding, love, equality and non-violence are key principles of a healthy relationship. There is no place for force and violence in love. True friends listen to and respect each other’s opinions. We (both men and women) should work towards making our relationships healthy,” Pham Anh Khoa said.
