Build the Field. Build the Movement. Engaging Young Men & Boys in India.

Nov 02, 2021

Key Questions

How will India’s young be liberated from the identities that patriarchy, religion, caste and society have defined for them?
Do young men and boys have safe, shared spaces to explore questions and discover themselves? How do they use their human potential?
What gaps in their education do they want to fill and how will they do that?
What kind of pressures does the role of ‘the primary breadwinner’ impose on them?
How are we going to define men by parameters of work, given that the meaning of work and the nature of jobs are going to change dramatically?

While the good work for the betterment of women and girls in India has to continue, the work in gender equity shall remain incomplete unless young men and boys are brought within the ambit of interventions. We need to onboard men, not only for the causes of women such as achieving goals of women empowerment and zero violence against women but also for men’s own development.

We need to onboard men, not only for causes of women such as achieving goals of women empowerment and zero violence against women, but also for men’s own development.

Key TAKEAWAYS

Any efforts towards gender equity must include both women and men – building capacities of girls and sensitising boys. The discourse must not be patronising towards men and boys.
The efforts have to be targeted at three levels – individual, their immediate communities, as well as supported by the larger narrative of breaking gender stereotypes.
Men and boys engaged in the project must have a clear understanding of their own growth as leaders through the project, as well as the real benefits of a gender equitable society, including positive, personal and social outcomes for themselves.

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