Engaging men and boys in changing gender-based inequity in health: Evidence from programme interventions.

TLDR

This review assessed the effectiveness of programmes engaging men and boys to promote gender equality and equity in health, addressing evidence on outcomes across sexual and reproductive health, HIV, fatherhood, gender‑based violence, maternal newborn and child health, and gender socialization, and evaluating programme types and gender perspectives. The review analysed data from 58 evaluation studies of interventions with men and boys covering sexual and reproductive health, HIV prevention and care, fatherhood support, gender‑based violence prevention, maternal newborn and child health, and gender socialization. An excerpt of the review is provided.

Abstract

This review assessed the effectiveness of programmes seeking to engage men and boys in achieving gender equality and equity in health and was driven by the following questions. What is the evidence on the effectiveness of programmes engaging men and boys in sexual and reproductive health; HIV prevention treatment care and support; fatherhood; gender-based violence maternal newborn and child health; and gender socialization? How effective are these programmes? What types of programmes with men and boys show more evidence of effectiveness? What gender perspective should be applied to men and boys in health programmes? Does applying a gender perspective to work with men and boys lead to greater effectiveness in terms of health outcomes? The review analysed data from 58 evaluation studies (identified via an Internet search key informants and colleague organizations) of interventions with men and boys in: sexual and reproductive health including HIV prevention treatment care and support; fatherhood including programmes to support or encourage them to participate more actively in the care and support of their children; gender-based violence including both prevention campaigns and activities that seek to prevent mens use of violence against women as well as programmes with men who have previously used physical violence against women (sometimes known as batterer intervention programmes); maternal newborn and child health: programmes engaging men in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality and to improve birth outcomes and child health and well-being; and gender socialization: programmes that work across these four issues (or at least most of them) and critically discuss the socialization of boys and men or the social construction of gender relations. (excerpt)