Community dialogues on the promotion of positive social norms and fighting against toxic masculinity

It has been a great opportunity for MOHCAM for the past two years to coordinate as a steering committee member and lead partner organizations of the MenEngage Network to implement the SIDA project in the North West Region.

MOHCAM, WESAD, and DHO as members of the @MenEngage network are carrying out some community dialogues on the promotion of positive social norms and fighting against toxic masculinity to promote gender equality in schools and communities. Toxic masculinity is a leading course of violence in homes, churches, schools, and the community at large.

This is sometimes caused by traditional and social norms that are not bound by human rights, leading to gender inequality and male dominance. This year we decided to have a conversation with a boys-dominated school to share their opinions and capture their voices as boys who are affected by the ongoing crisis. We had a participatory dialogue session with the students of Sacred Heart Collage Mankon.

This was focused on Identifying and sharing existing toxic masculinities, their effects, and a way forward as a measure to limit their reoccurrence. Despite being a single-sex school where all students are boys with similar attributes and traits, violence is still very common on campus. Bullying, aggression, and abusive behaviors characterized their daily activities, with several students needing constant medical checkups to redress their health conditions as a result of violence.

It was a fun-filled session with the SAHECO boys who saw reasons to transform their mindsets and avoid being violent even for self-defense. The boys were grateful and we are assured they will become champions for gender equality and HeForShe ambassadors.
We wish to heartily appreciate the Principal and staff of Sacred Heart College Mankon for the great collaboration and opportunity given to the team to empower the boys. We remain grateful.
Thank you @Sonke Gender Justice through the SIDA grant for funding this activity and to @MenEngage Cameroon and @Reach Out for making this possible.

#NoToToxicMasculinity
#NoToNegativeSocialNorms
#PromoteGenderEquality
#NoToGenderBasedViolence