Men’s Program-Humqadam

HUMQADAM is an Urdu word meaning a companion who walks alongside.

The program aims at creating spaces for men to engage on the issue of Violence Against Women (VAW). It explores alternative and healthier models of masculinities with a special emphasis on involving men and boys in stopping Violence Against Women.

HOW HUMQADAM WORKS

Enhancing Knowledge Base and Resource Base on Masculinities through Research

The program conducted a formative research on attitudes and perceptions amongst young men and boys on violence against women and its link to masculine identity as its first project. The research project lasting for one year aimed at expanding knowledge and understanding of masculinities within Pakistan. Findings from this study highlighted the connection between issues such as relationships, sexuality and, most importantly violence, and supported Rozan in developing its program with men and boys.

The program has also adapted the Gender Equitable Men (GEM) scale, in the context of Pakistan. This is a quantitative tool that assesses men’s attitudes towards sexuality, relationships and gender based violence. It can also be used to assess the impact of interventions with men and boys.

The program has also completed an extensive evaluation study of its project with 100 men and boys in a community in Rawalpindi.

Currently, the program is conducting a qualitative research on life histories of men who have taken affirmative action against sexual violence against women and men.

Awareness-raising and Mobilization

Humqadam’s first study on masculinities and violence led to the development of a series of group education sessions for boys and young men. Sessions aim at helping young men  understand  the privileges and costs of  masculinities and its demands on their lives and relationships. 

The program engages men and boys at the community level to raise awareness and mobilize youth for taking the responsibility of addressing gender based violence at a personal and community level.  In addition to running group education sessions, the program offers opportunities for activism on this issue such as theatre training and campaigns.

Capacity Building and Networking

Humqadam, like other Rozan programs also offers training to other CBO’s and NGO’s interested in building their capacities in working with men and boys. 

Humqadam is a member of the Men Engage Alliance, Pakistan (MEP) and served as secretariat for this from May 2009 to October 2011. Men Engage is a global alliance of NGOs and UN agencies that seek to engage men and boys to achieve gender equality.

Rozan is a member of the South Asian Network to Address masculinities (SANAM) and contributed to developing the curriculum for  a South Asian fellowship launched in Feb 2011 that aimed to build a resource pool of men, women and trans people with the appropriate knowledge base and skills to challenge masculinities in different social settings. The fellowship has successfully run its first cohort with 8 Fellows from Pakistan who have gone on to develop various projects on masculinities.

Past Highlights

• As secretariat of the MEP, Humqadam, with the support of AMAL Development Network (an Islamabad based NGO), hosted two symposiums in Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad and the University of Agriculture Faisalabad on 11-14 October, 2011. The symposiums, “Bridging the Gap: Gender Equality and Justice; Exploring Masculinities”, involved academia for promoting research in masculinities.
• In 2011, as secretariat of MEP, Humqadam carried out a mapping study, “Partners for Change”, on NGOs engaging men and boys in VAW prevention in Pakistan. The study shares prevalent strategies to involve men and boys in stopping VAW and presents cautions and recommendations for work in this area.

Publications