7. Men As Partners: lessons learned from engaging men in clinics and communities

Abstract

In an urban community in South Africa a victim of domestic violence afraid she’ll be beaten again acquiesces to the drunken insistence of her husband and endures intercourse. In a peri-urban community in Bolivia a mother of four secretly obtains birth control despite her husband’s objection risking accusations of infidelity violence and abandonment. In a rural community in Nepal a young married man accompanies his wife to the local health post for antenatal care visits. Walking home from work on the outskirts of Manila a young man discusses birth control options with his girlfriend. In Guinea a group of men trained as peer educators conduct home visits to local families to explain different reproductive-health issues. The settings and specifics may vary but scenes like these take place every day in communities across the world. In many countries all too often men act in ways that contribute to a variety of public-health problems such as domestic and sexual violence sexually transmitted infections spiralling rates of HIV/AIDS and high rates of maternal and infant mortality. However as these vignettes also make clear men can and often do play a critical role in promoting gender equity preventing violence and fostering positive sexual and reproductive health outcomes for themselves their partners and their families. (excerpt)