“As young men we have a role to play in preventing sexual violence”: Development and relevance of the men with conscience intervention to prevent sexual violence

Tania De Villiers,Sinegugu Duma,Naeemah Abrahams,Geilson Lima Santana

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0244550

Abstract

Sexual violence against women and girls is a major public health problem globally and in South Africa. Although young men have been identified as an important risk group for prevention interventions, scant attention have been given to this age cohort in low and middle-income countries. There is strong evidence that perpetration starts early and increasing attention is being drawn to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as settings for prevention interventions. The main objective of this study was to adapt the One Man Can Intervention for use with male university students in residences and develop materials for implementation. This paper presents the qualitative findings of the adaptation process of the One Man Can Intervention with 15 young male student leaders at a HEI in South Africa. The same participants who started in the study, participated throughout. Only five of the 15 participants were located and participated in the interviews six months post intervention. The results show the emergence of a six-hour session adapted intervention that addresses key drivers of violence against women and girls (VAWG). Critical engagement and dialogue on sexual violence is shown to shift key norms on gender equality, on being a man and reflection on their role in preventing sexual violence. This paper contributes to the field where much learning, refining and improvement of prevention interventions for VAWG are ongoing.

Highlights

Sexual violence reported to the South African police shows 52 420 sexual offences were reported in the 2018–2019 reporting year, which relates to 114 per day and a rate of 72/100 000 population [1]
Other drivers include individual and relationship level factors such as childhood exposure to violence, alcohol misuse and communication within relationships [7,8,9,10,11,12]. Many of these drivers are commonly found in South African society where dominant masculinities are shaped by the colonial past, a legacy of apartheid linked to experiences of political violence, all coalescing into violent masculinities which is further embedded in racial inequalities [13, 14]
The study found sexual violence was not discussed within the University setting and the preintervention focus group discussion provided them with their first frank discussion of sexual

Summary

Introduction

Sexual violence reported to the South African police shows 52 420 sexual offences were reported in the 2018–2019 reporting year, which relates to 114 per day and a rate of 72/100 000 population [1] This is very likely an under count as under-reporting of sexual violence to police is well-known globally [2, 3]. Other drivers include individual and relationship level factors such as childhood exposure to violence, alcohol misuse and communication within relationships [7,8,9,10,11,12] Many of these drivers are commonly found in South African society where dominant masculinities are shaped by the colonial past, a legacy of apartheid linked to experiences of political violence, all coalescing into violent masculinities which is further embedded in racial inequalities [13, 14]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion