Reproductive Health Programmes Need to Involve Men

In an interview with the Population Reference Bureau, Margaret Greene discusses the importance of men's involvement in reproductive health programmes such as family planning services, prevention, and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs); and care related to pregnancy and delivery. She notes that despite agreement that promoting fairness in the distribution of services and in women's and men's responsibilities is the most effective approach, confusion about the objectives of involving men has spurred a number of programs that are not always consistent with the Cairo recommendations. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo stressed the importance of harmonious, male-female partnerships to improving women's and men's health.

In this interview, Greene talks about why men initially were left out of the reproductive health picture, how the emphasis of involving men evolved, the challenges of involving men and finally, she provides some examples of successful reproductive health programmes that involve men.

Why have men been largely left out of the reproductive health picture?

According to Greene, women were seen in terms of their place in society - at home, rearing children and thus they were perceived to be more responsible for contraception and child health. The larger picture of sexuality, gender, and power relations between women and men were neglected.

How did the emphasis shift to involving men?

Eventually, family planning program staff and researchers realised that targeting only women in these programmes did not fully address ways in which decisions about sex and reproduction were actually made. These decisions are not just made by women but also by partners, in-laws, and others.

What kinds of risks do programme designers run in trying to involve men?

"From a gender equity perspective, there are several pitfalls in involving men in reproductive health:

• Programs can reinforce inequities between men and women;
• Programs can simply redirect funds to services for men. This was not the intention of the Cairo recommendations;
• Programs evaluated on the same basis as before, most likely by the contraceptive prevalence rate, have difficulty taking the power imbalances between women and men into account because evaluation drives program structure and emphasis;
• Programs can increase violence against women. Promoting contraceptive technologies may in some settings suggest the sexual independence of women and arouse men's fears that women will seek other relationships;
• A final pitfall is that involving men as health workers can entrench managerial hierarchies as men are placed in or promoted into positions of authority over long-time female employees."

Programmes that are working

• "Address gender socialization and ways of supporting equitable, supportive relationships between men and women;
• Cultivate peer support for positive behaviors;
• Mobilize communities to counter harmful practices and to recognize how their understanding of gender roles contributes to the spread of HIV;
• Educate young people to appreciate and protect the human rights of others."

Click here for the full interview online.