RFI: Male involvement in reproductive health
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For the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE - see description
below), I am writing a review of efforts to involve men in reproductive
health. This project follows the concept of male involvement from its
articulation in international agreements (Programme of Action, ICPD),
through donor policies, and into specific programs in various settings.
"Male involvement in reproductive health" has been interpreted in as
many ways as there are people working on the issue. In the review, I am
trying to sort out the frameworks and motivations for including men in
what was conventionally the women's domain of family planning. Is the
objective of bringing men in to increase contraceptive use, address
men's reproductive health needs, promote more equitable relations be-
tween the sexes, or some combination of these?
Given that the ICPD document decisively advocates the promotion of gen-
der equity across development programs, I'm interested to know how male
involvement programs are structured to assist in this effort. My fear
is that involving men may sometimes consolidate male power by
1) using resources otherwise spent on women;
2) cultivating the sense that men have the (sole) right to make deci-
sions about reproductive health, including contraceptive use and use of
services;
3) calling women's use of services to men's attention in ways that
makes women vulnerable to resistance, or even violence from men.
Your reactions and insights at this point would be helpful and welcome,
and could be sent to me at <mgreene@genderhealth.org> or to the postal
address below. Two kinds of information would be especially useful:
1) Examples of particularly good programs that have involved men as
supportive partners in reproductive health or bad programs that have
accomplished male involvement at the expense of women's autonomy or
power;
2) Any feedback you have on the risks and tradeoffs of involving men in
programs whose resources have long been focused on women's needs. Why
do you think that bringing men in is or isn't a good idea?
CHANGE takes its mandate from the Programme of Action (POA) of the 1994
International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). In advo-
cating for development policies that promote women's rights and auton-
omy, we actively seek to translate the language of the ICPD, POA and
other relevant agreements into practical, measurable changes in poli-
cies and programs within and across areas of family planning, sexually
transmitted diseases and gender violence.
Thank you very much for your help.
Margaret E. Greene, PhD
Center for Health and Gender Equity
6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 910
Takoma Park, MD 20912, USA
Tel: +1-301-270-1182
Fax: +1-301-270-2052 39 N, 77 W
mailto:mgreene@genderhealth.org
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