4331 - MEN AND THE PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Session: 4326 - GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE SYSTEMS RESPONSE CAPACITY: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH AND INTERVENTION
AUTHORS:
Ornelas José (ISPA, Instituto Universitário APPsyCI - Applied Psychology Research Center Capabilities and Inclusion, Lisboa ~ Lisbona ~ Portugal)
Abstract text:
Men are the population cohort with the highest level of responsibility on the incidence and prevalence of the designated pandemic of violence against women, girls, and children. Despite incommensurable numbers of international treaties and recommendations, the feminicide numbers and severe violence reported situations persist with no substantive changes. The 2025 global statistics reported by the United Nations reiterate that around 1 in 3 women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, mostly perpetrated by an intimate partner. Men must take responsibility for the severity of this social issue and commit to proactive intervention in the prevention of violence. This is not just the problem of a few—those who are "bad," who are violent, who drink, who use drugs, or who have mental illnesses. This labelling runs in parallel to the "Blaming the Victim" narrative that is often applied to women. This connection only isolates "some" men—the aggressors—and removes from the social context and the social basis of the repeated acts of violence; it compartmentalises the reality by placing aggressors on one side and victims on the other. In the course of my recent involvement and support for research in the field of violence against women and children, I concluded that if our goal is genuinely to work on the universal prevention of violence, we need to change the focus of research. Research should no longer be solely focused on demonstrating the causes and consequences of victimisation but directly address the problems and dilemmas of contemporary heterosexual men and promote a global strategy. Most studies on men and masculinity focus on perpetrators of violence involved in the judicial system, a restricted group that limits our perspectives on men and excludes the majority who should be a fundamental part of an innovative field of social intervention.