• Targeting men

Targeting men

This report presents the results of a qualitative and quantitative study of men ages 15-60 in three neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro (two low income and one middle income) on gender violence and sexual and reproductive health. A questionnaire was applied to 749 men and focus group discussions carried out with 52 men in the same neighbourhoods.

Findings:

• 25.4% of men said they had used physical violence at least once against a female partner
• nearly 40% said they had used psychological violence against a female partner at least once, including insults, humiliation or verbal threats
• 51.4% of men had used some kind of violence, physical, psychological or sexual, against a female partner at least once
• use of violence against women was associated with lower educational attainment, and with having been a victim of violence or witnessed violence against women in family of origin
• men ages 20-24 had the highest rates of self-reported use of combined violence (physical, psychological and sexual) against women
• the two low income communities had higher rates of self-reported violence against women than men from the middle income community, although income was less associated with use of violence than was educational attainment
• use of violence against women was associated with lower condom use with stable partners and with higher rates of STIs
• 15% of all men reported having had a sexually transmitted infection (STI) at least once, but only 42% said they informed their partner of this STI, arguably another form of gender violence
• 40% of men had witnessed violence by a man against a woman in their home of origin and 45.5% percent reported having been victims of physical violence in their homes
• focus group discussions confirmed numerous justifications that men used for violence against women

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