[Version B] Health, sexuality, reproduction, and men and boys

Sexual and reproductive health and rights are fundamental to people’s health and survival, to economic development, and to the wellbeing of humanity –
There are 39,000 deaths every year around the world because of unsafe abortions – Center for Reproductive Rights
19% of girls and 3% of boys are married before the age of 18. Without further progress to end child marriage, more than 100 million additional girls w
In most countries with data, few adolescent girls make decisions about their own sexual and reproductive health – UNICEF
Norms about boys’ behaviour lead to unequal decision-making in sexual partnerships, and sexual coercion and violence – Plan International

This page brings together diverse perspectives, knowledge, and experiences for collective learning around engaging men and boys in SRHR. It is a starting point for deeper exploration on this topic and how it relates to your work. Help make this a collaborative initiative by emailing suggestions for this page to admin@menengage.org.

Contents

What are sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)?

There is a very simple idea behind SRHR: that you should have the right to decide what to do with your own body. And the ability to access information and services to support that right.

This includes your right to define your own sexuality and gender identity. The right to choose whether and when to be sexually active, and with whom. The right to decide if and when to have children, how many, and by what means. And the right to information, resources, and healthcare services that help you access all of the above rights.

Ideas around SRHR come from a long history of feminist activism and advocacy, and the drive for human rights and better health around the world. In 2018, an international body of leading SRHR experts, called the Guttmacher-Lancet Commission, set out an integrated definition of SRHR, which includes the rights mentioned above, among others. You can read the full definition and more detail on pages 4 and 5 of the following report, under ‘A new definition’:

Inequality in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)

Most people around the world do not have access to their full sexual and reproductive rights. In turn, this means most people do not have access to sexual and reproductive health that they need or want. People face discrimination, coercion, exploitation, and violence around SRHR because of many factors, including their sexuality, gender identity, disability, race or ethnicity.

Many people in the world live in places where there are restrictive laws around sexual and reproductive health and rights. This includes restrictions on safe, legal abortion for those who need it, which leads to 39,000 deaths per year from unsafe abortions. Explore the global situation regarding abortion laws in this interactive map from the Centre for Reproductive Rights. In recent years, there have been some political and legal setbacks for reproductive rights around the world. However, on the whole the trend is positive.

Men, masculinity, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)

Sexual and reproductive health and rights are usually seen as the domain of women, and not men’s concern. Many men are not involved in the sexual and reproductive health and rights needs of their partners, families or themselves. This means the burden of sexual and reproductive health and rights tends to fall on women’s shoulders. Why is this? What does this mean for gender equality? And how can we engage men and boys in order to change things?

“Men’s limited participation in sexual and reproductive health and rights doesn’t fall out of the sky. It is the result of gender inequalities, of historical divisions related to who does what in the home, of patriarchal control over women’s bodies, and of our deep discomfort in talking to our sons and daughters about sexuality.”

Margaret Greene Senior Advisor for Gender and Health, Equimundo
“The field of sexual and reproductive healthcare has tried to involve men and boys in family planning and sexuality education for the last 30 years, but the field is fraught with assumptions and stigma about gender and sexuality. To complicate things, healthcare is a very power-driven sector with its own hierarchies, and SRHR touches the heart of the male-female binary that defines patriarchy as a system. So, the first thing we need to do is to acknowledge this complexity as we work to transform patriarchal gender norms and improve SRHR.”

Magaly Marques Senior Advisor, MenEngage Alliance
“We remind people that women have the right to choose. And that it is not up to men to decide what women can choose for themselves and what is good for them, their health, and for their bodies.”

Bafana Khumalo Co-executive Director, Sonke Gender Justice

Why do men not use sexual and reproductive health services as much as women do? This is largely because of gender norms and barriers, like a lack of sex education, or that health clinics are not set up to help men with specific health issues. This means that women and girls often have to look after themselves when it comes to pregnancy and sexual health. Men and boys see themselves as sexual beings but don’t think about their reproductive health or their own health needs. This creates a burden on healthcare systems and risks their health.

Contents