Reframing Men and Boys in Policy for Gender Equality: Conceptual Guidance and an Agenda for Change

Abstract

Gender inequality remains a critical challenge and threatens to severely undermine progress towards the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).1 On average and globally, women only earned in 2015 what men earned almost a decade earlier and they accounted for only 18 per cent of ministers in government by 2015.2 However, women spend two to ten times more time on caring for children or older persons than do men (World Bank 2012). It is also estimated that 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or sexual violence at some point in their lives.

This continued challenge is recognised in the policies and commitments of various development agencies. For example, the UK government’s new development strategy (DFID and HM Treasury 2015) emphasises mainstreaming the empowerment of women and girls under its strategic objective of ‘tackling extreme poverty and helping the world’s most vulnerable’, also seen as linked to stability, security and opportunities for all. The SDGs also recognise these challenges, with a stand-alone goal for gender equality (SDG 5) having seven of its nine targets specifically addressing women’s disadvantage.

However, whilst many gender equality policies and programmes only target and work with women and girls, compelling evidence and experience shows that engaging men and boys in these processes is crucial for lasting change. Drawing on global evidence from the Department for International Development (DFID)-funded EMERGE programme, this paper explains why better engaging men and boys is crucial, the implications for reframing policy design and implementation, and provides key recommendations for policy.