Including Men And Boys in Achieving Gender Equality

One of the questions raised in the Gender Equality strand of the World Conference on Youth has been "How do we include men and boys in achieving Gender Equality?". All of the delegates agreed that we should involve people of all genders in achieving gender equality and, perhaps, men and boys can be considered the group that is currently the least engaged. 

The question is how? This list is by no means exhaustive, but offers a few suggestions: 

1. Try to have visible gender equality in panels and events on the subject. We often end up with women talking to women about gender equality - engaged women talking to engaged women too! If we incorporate more male and minority gender identity panellists, hopefully this will help to change the dynamics of the audiences too. We wouldn't think twice of pointing out the injustice of an all male panel on a subject, so think twice and create more diversity in your events.

2. Consider men and boys as part of the solution, not the problem. We need an environment of mutual respect and collaboration to achieve gender equality.

3. Use non-formal education curriculums and activities (like Voices Against Violence - link to it) in co-educational and boys only contexts. 

4. Think about the language and terminology that we use and call out our peers when they use harmful gender stereotypes. These shape how we perceive people's gender and are often damaging and limiting to men and boys as well as girls, women and other genders. 

5. Promote role models who support gender equality. By highlighting and increasing the visibility of role models that break down gender stereotypes, we can promote a broader understanding of gender identities and promote gender equality.