Engaging men and boys in the struggle to end violence against women : A study on how men and boys are engaged in the issue of violence against women in Mauritius

Abstract: This thesis looked deeper into the subject of engaging men and boys in the issue of violence against women in Mauritius. The aim of the study was to investigate what methods were used to engage men and boys in the subject, as well as the challenges faced when working to engage men and boys in the subject of violence against women, and lastly if there is any new innovative strategies that could develop the area of engaging men and boys towards decreasing violence against women. The theory used in this study was hegemonic masculinity by Connell. We used abductive thematic network analysis (ATNA) as our method and analysis. In addition we also used Atlas.ti-7, a computerized data analysis tool, to categorize the data and to further create the themes and networks between them. Our results showed that one of the methods that were frequently used by the organizations was to empower men to make a change in their own life, and further becoming the change in society themselves. Another method used by some of the organizations was to create an alternative role of what masculinity is in order to change the stereotypical macho dominant man which includes being aggressive as one of the characteristics, for instance. Some of the difficulties faced by the organizations was the challenge of actually recruiting men and boys to the workshops, but also recruiting male facilitators as employees. Some of the innovative ideas put forward by the interviewees, was to engage boys at school more than what is done now, also to work with corporations and companies and their employees in the issues of violence against women.