Kenya Men Engage Alliance (KEMEA), which was founded in 2006, is a nationwide network of non-governmental organizations, governmental agencies, and community-based groups. They engage in research, interventions, and social mobilization projects that involve boys and men in productive ways to tackle gender inequalities and advance the health of women, men, and children. The network focuses on concerns such as gender-based violence (GBV), sexual and reproductive health rights, positive fatherhood, female genital mutilation, and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. The network has undertaken various activities to help address gender inequality and injustice in Kenya. These include: the education of journalists from Kenya's top media outlets on gender issues and how to prevent GBV and HIV, as well as frequent training workshops with men and boys held to promote positive fatherhood, gender equality, and the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS. Additionally, they have come up with a national strategy to involve men and boys in promoting gender equality, and arranged consultation sessions with important partners including relevant ministries and the National Commission for Gender and Development. Also, they have developed the National HIV and AIDS Male Engagement Guidelines in collaboration with the National AIDS Control Council.
One of their projects in particular
caught my eye, this is the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence
against Women. This takes place every year from November 25th to
December 10th. The campaign usually commences with the
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and
lasts until International Human Rights Day. The theme this year is Lets End Femicide. As per the Global 16 Days Campaign website, “the dates
of the campaign were chosen to link violence against women and human rights and
to underline that gender-based violence against women is a violation of human
rights”. For members of the Men Engage Alliance, who consider themselves
feminists and women’s rights activists, the campaign is a crucial time. During
this campaign these men strive to prevent and end men's violence against all
women and girls and to help demolish the patriarchal attitudes, practices, and
institutions that support it. They ask men to join the White Ribbon Campaign
pledge, which encourages men and boys to never engage in, excuse, or keep quiet
about violence against women and girls. The KMEA uses this campaign as a vital opportunity
to draw attention to the fact that patriarchal beliefs, norms, and practices are
the foundation of gender-based violence.
The KMEA primarily use the campaign to bring men and boys on board as agents and reliable allies who accept and encourage the fair gender norms needed
to end gender-based violence at all stratas of society. According to the
campaign’s Action Guide, “Engaging with male allies can help elevate the
issues facing women and, at the same time, encourage other men to take action
and make small changes in their own lives, families and homes. Asking men in
positions of power to use their authority to draw attention to the issue of
femicide and its precursors, e.g. domestic violence, can help remove stigma and
barriers to exposing the occurrence of violence and seeking redress and
support.”
The campaign also shines a light
on the significance of recognizing intersectionality, realizing the “heightened
risk of femicide that is associated with multiple and intersectional forms of
discrimination”. The campaign has also provided information sheets with
important information on indigenous femicide, black femicide, femicide in the
workplace and femicide as a result of unsafe abortion. Bafana Khumalo, co-chair
of the Men Engage Alliance, said: “Narratives of gender-based violence and
femicide often stop at framing this violence as a women’s issue. It is
important to recognize victims and to prioritize and empower survivors. We must
also expose the perpetrators of this violence and the gender norms that
underpin it. It is vital that we name the fact that the acts of violence
against women and girls we are talking about are at the hands of male
perpetrators. It is men’s violence against women that we need to address, and
the underlying causes based on male power and inequitable gender relations at
all levels of society. If men want to be part of the solution, they must step
forward as responsible allies of women, girls and people of diverse sexual and
gender identities who are leading the work to end gender-based violence and
femicide.”
The co-director of the Men Engage
Alliance, Joni van de Sand, also remarked: “We need to continue to work with
individual men and boys so that they can unlearn those norms and behaviors that
associate masculinity with power, control and violence, among other harmful traits.
But we also need to work at a systemic level on the laws, policies,
institutions and social norms and cultures that allow violence against women
and girls to take place and, in many contexts, condone and encourage it.
Without transforming the patriarchal systems and structures of societies that
are at the root, it will be very difficult to eradicate men’s violence.”
Reading about these men reminded me of our
readings and discussions in Week 8 on Men, Masculinity and Development. Bilgi’s
article ’Entering Women’s World through Men’s Eyes’ especially highlighted the
positive results that can be generated if men are properly and contextually
involved in addressing gender concerns. Thus, it is obvious that there is a
need for men to participate in the process of tackling gender inequality for
development. As we’ve seen above, men in various positions can help to make
strides against harmful patriarchal norms and practices. While these men are
not single handed solving gender inequalities and injustices in Kenya, they are
making significant contributions to foster gender equality. This goes to show
that though men cannot unilaterally solve gender issues, it is necessary for
them to properly and contextually take part in the ongoing work to tackle those
issues.
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