| Conducted by | Respect Victoria |
|---|---|
| Date | August 2024 |
Overview
Willing, capable and confident: men, masculinities and the prevention of violence against women examines how we can support men to engage more in actions to prevent gender-based violence.
This is the second report published from The Man Box 2024, a study led by The Men’s Project at Jesuit Social Services and conducted in partnership with Respect Victoria. The study examines the attitudes and behaviours of Australian men aged 18 to 45. It measures agreement with and experience of Man Box ‘rules’ – harmful stereotypes about what it means to be a man. Men who agree with these harmful rules are more likely to use violence against women.
Willing, capable and confident draws on focus group discussions with men conducted as part of the study. It explores how men perceive and experience social pressures about what it means to be a man, including:
- acting tough and avoiding expressions of emotional vulnerability
- conforming to the masculine provider role
- complying with heteronormativity and compulsory heterosexuality.
It then investigates how men navigate these pressures, including:
- resistance to addressing the gendered drivers of men’s violence against women and homophobia
- action to challenge rigid gender norms.
By exploring how men conform to, navigate, or challenge the Man Box ‘rules,’ the report identifies opportunities to build their willingness, capacity and confidence to resist pressures to participate in harmful expressions of masculinity. These opportunities demonstrate pathways to men’s deeper engagement in actions to prevent violence.
This report is a contribution to the collective efforts of practitioners and policy-makers working with men to prevent violence against women and other forms of gender-based violence.
Key findings
The report looks at how men described contexts that help them to question or disconnect from harmful ideas of masculinity and presents 5 opportunities to support more men to live freely outside the Man Box:
- Men see and understand the benefits of emotionally supportive, safe and equitable intimate partner relationships for themselves and their partners
- Fathers understand how gender norms can influence their parenting and impact their children
- Men’s families and social networks can support them to let go of harmful ideas about what it means to be a man and can encourage healthy forms of masculinity
- Men’s increased openness to discuss their mental health and wellbeing can be built upon by gender-transformative primary prevention efforts
- Workplace initiatives, cultures and reforms provide opportunities to challenge harmful ideas about what it means to be a man.
The report also highlights future directions for primary prevention efforts to engage with men, including:
- the importance of consistent and coordinated settings-based prevention work
- continuing to build evidence of what works to shift harmful forms of masculinity
- supporting media to build men’s willingness, capability and confidence to be part of prevention.
Read the report
Respect Victoria acknowledges Aboriginal peoples throughout Victoria as the First Peoples and Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands and waterways on which we rely. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. We proudly acknowledge the Aboriginal communities throughout Victoria and their ongoing strength in practising the world’s oldest living cultures.
We acknowledge the significant and ongoing impacts of colonisation and commit to working alongside First Nations communities to effect change. We recognise the ongoing leadership role of these communities in addressing and preventing family violence and violence against women, and will continue to work in collaboration with First Peoples to eliminate these forms of violence from all communities.
Respect Victoria acknowledges the significant impact of family violence and violence against women on individuals, families and communities, and the strength and resilience of the children, young people and adults who have, and are still, experiencing this violence. We pay our respects to those who did not survive and to their loved ones.
Respect Victoria is grateful to the many people who have contributed to the development of Willing, capable and confident: men, masculinities and the prevention of violence against women. Thanks to reviewers Dr Shane Tas and Jackson Fairchild for supporting development of the report; and to Respect Victoria colleagues past and present Desiree Bensley, Joanna Brislane, Queenie Chung, Lauren Coutts, Genevieve Evans, Ally Hallam, Kellie Horton, Dr Melinda McPherson, Jacquie O’Brien, Chloe Papas, Santisouk Phongsavan, Bruce Rohde, Dr Anita Trezona, Laura Vines and Laura Wood for their assistance in shaping our analysis and providing editing support. Thanks to Vanessa Winter for copy editing and to Elinor McDonald for designing this report.
We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of Emily Maguire in co-establishing our partnership with The Men’s Project at Jesuit Social Services and Serina McDuff for providing her leadership throughout the development of this project.
The Men’s Project, Jesuit Social Services
Respect Victoria would like to thank The Men’s Project at Jesuit Social Services for their ongoing work to support knowledge building about healthy masculinities and primary prevention of violence in Australia, including as our research partner and lead organisation on the Man Box 2024 study. We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate on the design of this study, from which we conducted the analysis that informs Willing, capable and confident: men, masculinities and the prevention of violence against women, and for their input to early drafts of this report.
In particular, we would like to acknowledge Rachel Thomson, Olivia Stephenson, Michael Hail, Matt Tyler and Samuel Ware for their generosity and commitment to partnership and collaboration.
Authors
Dr Innocent Mwatsiya, Senior Adviser, Research and Translation
Dr Shelly Makleff, Senior Adviser, Research and Translation
Hazel Donley, Senior Adviser, Research and Translation
Dr Stephanie Lusby, Manager, Research
Foreword
Steven Roberts; Board Director, Respect Victoria; Professor of Education and Social Justice, Monash University
Research agency
Wallis Social Research
Suggested citation
Respect Victoria. 2024. Willing, capable and confident: men, masculinities and the prevention of violence against women. Melbourne: Respect Victoria.