Strasbourg, 9 July 2021 GEC(2021)3 Revised COMMITTEE FOR GENDER EQUALITY (GEC) STUDY on the place of men and boys in women's rights and gender equality policies Prepared by Claire Guiraud & Romain Sabathier GEC(2021)3 Revised 2 Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 3 I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 6 II. FRAMING OF THE “MEN, BOYS AND GENDER EQUALITY" FIELD...................... 11 a) A place or places for men and boys? .............................................................................. 11 b) Reasons and objectives of public action ....................................................................... 12 c) Points of caution .............................................................................................................. 19 III. OPERATIONAL MAPPING OF INITIATIVES REGARDING MEN AND BOYS AND GENDER EQUALITY ............................................................................................................. 24 1) Initiatives aimed at developing a scientifically informed diagnosis and a shared normative and political framework ................................................................................... 24 2) Initiatives targeting men and boys as barriers to women's rights and gender equality .............................................................................................................................................. 26 3) Initiatives targeting men and boys as agents of change for the promotion of women's rights and gender equality.................................................................................................. 29 4) Initiatives targeting men and boys as collateral victims of male domination............. 31 IV. RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................. 33 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................... 36 Appendix 1 - List of interviews .......................................................................................... 36 Appendix 2 - Methodological Issues ..................................................................................... 37 Appendix 3 – For further reading: indicative bibliography ................................................. 38 3 GEC(2021)3 Revised EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The issue of gender equality concerns society as a whole and both men and women are involved. This is one of the reasons why engaging men and boys for gender equality may seem obvious, marked by the seal of modernity and the aspiration to enjoy an egalitarian society together in the future. Consequently, very often, the questions “What are we talking about?” and “Why do we do it?” are replaced by the now urgent question “How do we do it?”. The Council of Europe Gender Equality Commission commissioned this study to clarify the issues at stake and to map existing initiatives and public policies in this area. The involvement of men and boys in achieving an egalitarian society is beneficial in the medium and long term to women and men, and to society as a whole. The study shows that optimism should not exclude lucidity or the consideration of facts. Clarifying the terms of the issue “men, boys and gender equality” is an essential prerequisite before proceeding with the “how to”. This requires examining the multiple positions that men and boys occupy in gender relations, namely: Place 1 - men and boys as barriers to gender equality, Place 2 - men and boys as agents of change towards gender equality, Place 3 - men and boys as collateral victims of male domination. While there is a consensus on the major importance of men's role in ending gender-based violence and inequality, there is a debate regarding the appropriate modalities of action regarding their involvement and inclusion. The principal objective must remain that these strategies globally contribute to gender equality, and to women’s rights and empowerment. Today, this is neither always reflected upon nor always guaranteed. Therefore, a growing number of voices in research, civil society and institutions are calling for reasoned caution in this area. Indeed, the reflection on men and boys in equality policies is partial and influenced by simplifying rhetoric that generates preconceived ideas (“what about male victims?”, “only women are considered nowadays”, etc.), and is sometimes based on arguments aimed at distorting realities and at playing down or even denying the persistence of structural inequalities, to the detriment of women in terms of pay, power, or physical integrity. In the very name of gender equality, the thinking - conscious or not - is, that after the time of women, the time of men should come. This narrative is initially developed by the so-called “masculinist” movement, a “conservative or reactionary social movement that claims that men suffer from an identity crisis because women in general, and feminists in particular, dominate society and its institutions”. This type of individual rather than collective and systemic interpretation depoliticises the issue of gender equality, which is intimately linked to the issue of power sharing. The global Covid-19 pandemic is a stark reminder of the reality of social inequalities today, including those between women and men. This crisis has demonstrated the fragility of the rights and progress patiently conquered in recent decades, mostly by women. The health crisis has not only deepened existing inequalities but may have generated new ones: a decrease in GEC(2021)3 Revised 4 the number of women experts in the media, a drop in paid employment and an increase in unpaid care work disproportionately affecting women, an increase in domestic violence, and the fact that women and gender equality were neglected in many economic support and recovery plans.1 Globally and structurally, there is still a society model of organisation that is unfavourable to the equality and to the rights of women and girls. Thus, beyond the diagnosis, we must reflect about the place given to men and boys in women's rights and gender equality policies that. While it is wrong to suggest that men and boys are excluded from these policies today (for example, education or training policies, or parental leave), it is nonetheless a fact that developing actions specifically aimed at men and boys within gender equality policies may lead to fewer resources and less attention being paid to girls’ and women’s rights and to women’s/feminist organisations that are already underfunded compared to their needs. Moreover, it is necessary to look at whether the different problems result directly from the gender system and whether other public policies already take into account these groups of men and boys. This study identifies and explains these different issues. Part II of the study is devoted to the mapping of initiatives concerning men and boys and gender equality. Almost 80 initiatives are listed in this study. This work is based in particular on the contributions of the member states solicited within the framework of the Council of Europe Gender Equality Commission, as well as a literature review and interviews with experts. This inventory does not pretend to be exhaustive or to provide an in-depth evaluation of these initiatives. Their nature and ambition are diverse. However, particular attention has been paid to those reforms that appear to be structural and likely to have the greatest impact in terms of social transformation towards equality between women and men. A first group of initiatives aims at producing scientific data and analyses, normative frameworks, as well as spaces for exchange and reflection on this issue. Although growing, scientific data and analyses are still sorely lacking. However, this is essential in order to base debates on the diagnosis and to base solutions on solid scientific foundations. Then, three groups of initiatives look at the positions of men and boys identified in the first part of the study: obstacles to equality, agents of change, collateral victims of gender relations. With regard to the group of men as obstacles to equality, many initiatives focus on the important issue of the unequal sharing of unpaid work, i.e. mainly domestic and parental tasks within households. The mobilisation of public authorities seems to be accelerating against the existing inertia that still leads to the fact that in all countries, data shows that men benefit on average from a much lower domestic and parental workload than their female partners. Since 2020, legal and structural reforms have come into force in at least six member states of the Council of Europe going towards greater co-responsibility of both parents for childcare. Since 1 January 2021, for example, Spain has implemented a “birth and childcare 1 See, for example, the statement by UN Secretary General António Guterres, "A crisis with a woman’s face ", 4 March 2021. 5 GEC(2021)3 Revised leave” of 16 weeks for both parents, of which 8 weeks are compulsory for each parent, non- transferable and paid at 100% of salary. This reform - by matching resources with ambition - illustrates a possible way to increase the rights of both parents, to further encourage the involvement of men in care, to promote the social acceptance of this sharing, while improving the living conditions