For Winnie Byanyima, Director, Gender Team, Bureau for Development Policy, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York, 2007 has been a period for reflection, reassessment and reorientation of policies around gender.

In New Delhi recently to launch a joint Asia-Pacific regional programme of the UN system and its partners, 'Partners for Prevention: Working with Boys and Men to Prevent Gender-Based Violence’, Byanyima noted that during the past few years, governments around the world have instituted changes in law and policy on issues of gender-based violence. She lauded India for the passage of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, and the ongoing efforts to implement it.

International consensus is moving towards banning all forms of violence against women. However, despite the emerging consensus, there is no evidence of decline in levels of violence against women, anywhere in the world.

Instead, “We find new forms of gender-based violence, in different countries and regions, with greater magnitude, scope and intensity," said Byanyima, who has been a leading champion of women’s rights in Africa.

She founded the Forum for Women in Democracy that pioneered gender budgeting in Uganda, and coordinates the Eastern African Gender Budget Network.

Byanyima shares her critique of past policies, musing, “Within the UN, gender concerns have been implicit in our work in human development, human rights, and human security. International agencies and national governments have implemented many programmes. However, much of the work has been too narrow in its focus.
It became clear to us, in the UN, that there is a need to rethink strategies."

She spoke of a growing understanding of the role of violence in the lives of men. Recent research indicates that large numbers of men feel disempowered today, in the face of global economic shifts. Male gender identities are often shaped around the notion of being breadwinners. Men are devastated by chronic unemployment. To prevent gender-based violence, it is necessary to work with men and boys, as well.

Working with men

Some issues have emerged as very difficult, and need to be understood in greater complexity, before devising effective strategies. For instance, more research is needed on the issue of son preference, which is specific to Asia. Ongoing strategies are not making much impact.

The year 2007 marked, in some ways, a watershed in policy thinking on how to tackle gender-based violence.

'Working with Boys and Men to Prevent Gender-Based Violence' is a four-year programme to be implemented by UNDP, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), during 2008-2011.

A distinctive feature of this programme is its integrated approach. It will undertake public awareness, capacity building, research and advocacy across sectors such as education, labour, law, police, and the judiciary. Focusing on men and boys as partners in prevention, the programme will move away from the common stereotype of men and boys as perpetrators. Perceiving them also as victims, trapped in gender identities, the attempt will be to help change institutions that are bearers of gender. Institutions such as schools, workplaces and the state, socialise girls and boys, making them behave in certain ways.

Empowerment

Byanyima acknowledged concerns that the new programmatic engagement with men and boys should not draw attention away from women and girls. She emphasised, "It is important that this programme complements the existing focus on empowerment of women. It should add on, not detract. There will be a component working directly on women's empowerment issues, encouraging women to say 'no' to violence, and challenge inequality."

The programme will focus on strategies for prevention of violence. Efforts will be directed towards influencing socialisation processes, inheritance and property rights, labour laws, and judicial procedures so as to eliminate impunity. In Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa, gender needs to be addressed within poverty reduction frameworks. Research shows that building women's assets helps them to walk away from violent situations.

Byanyima, who was recognised as a "Global Leader of Tomorrow" in 1995 by the World Economic Forum, noted that legal frameworks still remain flawed. For instance, marital rape is yet to be recognised in many countries.

After giving dowry, a man is perceived as 'owning’ his wife.

Women’s Feature Service