By Neena Bhandari
Jan 31 2000 (IPS)

Amidst growing global concern about violence by men against women an international group of researchers and social activists gathered here over the weekend to understand the problem better and do something about it.

With men losing traditional patriarchal roles of being the providers and more women gaining financial independence, the roles and relationships between men and women in the family and society have undergone a sea change.

Stemming from this loss of control, men’s fear and insecurity has brought about crises of masculinity, which translates into violence.

That was one of the conclusions at the weekend seminar on ‘Violence, Masculinities and Development’ held as part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) seminar series on Men, Masculinities and Gender Relations in Development.

” We needed to combine theory and practice, North and South perspective and improve our ways of thinking about gender and development to tackle interventions, political empowerment, men’s positions and attitudes,” said Frances Cleaver, seminar series co-ordinator.

Participants compared female-male roles in Africa, Latin America and Asia with Western concepts.

Men in the former societies have been brought up in structures that put them in positions of privilege and women respect and support these structures. Here masculinity has come to be associated with men’s power over women and to exercise that control, men sometimes use violence.

Speaking on Western conception of masculinity in context of violence, Vic Sidler of Goldsmiths College said: “In the west there is a long history in which violence has become normalised for men in a different sense- as a learnt response to conflict and as a means of resolving disputes”.

Another contributing factor to violence was the fundamental difference in the way women need men and vice versa. A result in many cases, like in Costa Rica, women are colluding in violence.

Cases were cited of women throwing out men, who wanted to stay at home and participate in household chores. But the women worried that their husbands would be branded as henpecked.

What can de done to reduce gender-based violence? One response welcomed by many was that violence has finally been put on the agenda of International Aid Agencies. Thus far, it was an issue taken up by women’s organisations only.

Another, according to Ranjan Poudyal, Research officer North-South Poverty Project in Kathmandu is that men must be part of the solution.

” Gender seems to be equated with feminism, but in South Asian societies if the issue of violence has to be addressed, men also have to be tackled. Weare trying to teach boys at a young age that aggression is not manhood through screening video films in schools”.

The issue of including both men and women was also stressed by Caroline Moser, lead specialist for social development at the World Bank who looked at violence from an economist’s point of view.

She said violence erodes natural, human, social, and physical capitalall of which are necessary for development.

Future development policies needs to focus on men and women both, if we have to build peaceful societies, said Moser.

Conflicts in many countries like Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and other South Asian countries has led to physical, mental and social abuse and violence against girls.

In these countries girls are already marginalised and even educated boys are violent against girls, who are further discriminated against on religious and historical basis.

Cultures have an overpowering impact on masculinity and violence.

Naomi Norma Mvere, a student of development studies at the University of East Anglia underscored this relationship by looking at Zimbabwe.

Traditionally, women were not organised and would feared that ô they raised their voice against tradition, the husband would perpetuate greater violence and the society would accuse her of following the Westö

ô On the other hand very few men accept and take the challenge, most express anger to show authority which invariably results in violence”, she said.

Another contributing factor was where economic and social conditions effectively robbed men of the power to which they feel they have a traditional right .

This affected their masculinity and self-esteem and was manifested in violent and aggressiveness sexual behaviour, multi-partnered sexual relationships and even suicides.

Interestingly, the ability of men and women to cope with violence differs.

While men break down and take the extreme step of suicide (violence against oneself), women hold themselves together for the sake of children no matter how much they want to express their anguish.

In many countries of the world war has been romanticised and young boys have been socialised into fighting and killing. In Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, neighbour has turned against neighbour.

Prof. Robert Hinde, St John’s College, Cambridge, feels all violence is not due to individual aggression. ô There are always social, economic and cultural factors involved. War can be seen as an institution where incumbents are only playing their roles”.

Prem Vijayan of Hindu College, University of Delhi-Institute of Social Studies, The Hague argued that ôviolence is not inherent in men. They learn to be violent through behavioural process and there is a social consent to violence in masculinity.

Drawing from his experience in Uganda, Chris Dolan, Researcher for Consortium for Political Emergencies-ACORD feels organised i.e. army and state sponsored violence allow the perpetuation of war.

” When the state doesn’t exercise its duty and the army, the very people who are supposed to protect begin attacking and raping, the citizens are left wondering where the loyalties lie. In such war-ravaged countries the social mechanisation for a non-violent living is absent”.

One of the aims of the seminar, which was co-sponsored by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) was to establish a dialogue and strengthen ôinstitutional linkagesö among researchers in both developing and industrialised countries.

The organisers said they also hoped ôto draw on Southern perspectives on gender and development which have often been highly critical of northern feminist approaches.”

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