New Studies Show How Partnering With Men Can Stop Violence Against Women

| Russian |

UNITED NATIONS — It should have been one of the happiest nights of their lives. A young soldier and his new wife were alone for the first time on their wedding night. Much to the husband’s surprise, there was no blood after they consummated the marriage. They knew the kind of danger this result could bring if anyone found out. Elder women from the village would want to see the sheets, and if there was no blood, the young bride could be hurt, or even killed, for tarnishing her family’s honour.

Yet several months earlier, the soldier had participated in a training session on sexual and reproductive health, gender equality and the prevention of gender-based violence. He learned that a woman can be a virgin and not bleed during intercourse, and that there may be more to a woman’s honour than her virginity. The soldier cut his finger and let it bleed onto the sheets to save his wife from danger.

The soldier reported this story to the trainers, and it trickled up to the leadership in the Ministry of Health, the Turkish Armed Forces and UNFPA. It has stayed with them as a reminder that just one day of education can change – and perhaps save – a person’s life.

The training session was part of an ambitious effort to educate every young man in Türkiye on the importance of sexual and reproductive health, gender equality and the prevention of gender-based violence. It was organized by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the Turkish Armed Forces. With no formal curriculum in schools on sexual health, the training was the first time many soldiers learned how to use a condom or gave thought to gender-based violence. To date, three million men have been trained, and the project has been made permanent by a decree from the Turkish Armed Forces. Many of the soldiers say the training changed their beliefs about a woman’s right to make her own choices and to live free from violence.

The story is from one of five case studies featured in a new UNFPA publication, Partnering with Men to End Gender-based Violence: Practices that work from Eastern Europe and Central Asia . Other studies document experience in working with non-governmental organizations in the Ukraine, communities in Armenia, institutions in Romania and police officers in Türkiye. The studies provide a step-by-step analysis of how projects to address gender-based violence were carried out and the process through which they were implemented. At the same time, they provide general guidance for replication and document results obtained, challenges faced, lessons learned and good practices that have emerged as factors for success. The second half of the publication identifies practices that have worked in more than one project, and across countries. This section may also serve as a stand-along document, providing programme planners and policy makers with a practical guide for strategy development.

“If there is one key lesson to be learned from these case studies, it is the value of partnership between men and women,” says Thea Fierens, UNFPA regional director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “It is not women or men working alone to end gender-based violence that yields the best results. Rather, it is the partnerships between them that have the greatest impact and reach. Each case study, in its own way, exemplifies this point, and provides a portal – even if only a small one – into what a world free from violence would look like.”