Conference sheds light on issues affecting boys and men |21 November 2013

Issues ranging from poor educational performances, health and social problems which include gender-based violence against men and parental abuse of the male child are some of the problems and challenges boys and men are facing.

Decision-makers and guests learned of these issues during a conference yesterday at the Maison Football auditorium.

The half-day conference was organised by the gender secretariat in collaboration with the international men’s day working group set up last year by the social affairs department. It was part of activities to commemorate International Men’s Day which fell on November 19 and is this year being marked under the theme ‘Keeping men and boys safe’.  

The aim of the conference was to raise awareness of decision-makers on pertinent issues that are affecting boys and men in Seychelles and also to come up with recommendations on how best to address them by putting in place the necessary male-friendly mechanisms and support structures to help boys and men who are at risk.

Among those attending the conference were members of the National Assembly, officials from the ministries of Education and Health, the department of social affairs and the police.

In remarks to launch the conference, Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports Minister Vincent Meriton said this year’s International Men’s Day theme is appropriate, forward-looking and timely because more than ever, we need to keep our men and boys safe as we run the risk of losing them.

“Today’s changing society necessitates that we not only focus on women’s and girls’ safety as we have done in the past,” said Minister Meriton.

“Men today face many challenges and unfortunately, traditional stereotypes still prevail. That is why we need to tell our men that it is ok to talk, that it is not a sign of weakness but that of good judgment to ask for help and that it does no one any favours to remain silent,” he added.

Minister Meriton pointed out that statistics for 2007 up to 2011 show that 24 out of the 25 people who committed suicide were men.
 
“We need to put the necessary support system in place to identify men and boys who are at risk in the family, at school and in the workplace, and give them counselling and help,” he stressed.
 
Furthermore, he said there is a need to boost men’s life expectancy by keeping men and boys safe from avoidable illnesses and self-destructive lifestyles.

It is worth pointing out that the main causes of death among men today are pneumonia, heart disease, hypertension and prostate cancer. All of these if detected early and with effective treatment can be cured or controlled.

“We therefore need to take appropriate actions. It is high time that we look at our approaches and services; we need to tailor them to meet the needs of men and boys.

 More programmes need to be developed that are specific to boys and men and in this endeavour our workplaces and schools can play an active role,” Minister Meriton told those present.

Those taking part in the conference heard a presentation by Egbert Benstrong, a representative of the Ministry of Education, who talked about boys’ underperformance where statistics show that boys and girls meet curriculum expectations and targets from P1 to P2 but from then on boys’ results start to decline considerably until the end of P6. As the boys progress in secondary the gap tends to narrow though they do not perform as well as the girls.

No reasons have been given for that as no study has been conducted but it is believed that it may be attributed to teaching methods, medium of instruction and the teachers’ gender.

Gina Michel, programme manager for mental health and cancer, gave a presentation on men’s health during which it was revealed that men have different perceptions of ill-health and they tend to seek medical help when it is too late. She called for a more aggressive health promotion targeting men and more male-friendly facilities and services.

Elsa Nourrice from the probation services informed those present that while more women tend to be the ones reporting gender violence there are also men who suffer from such abuse at the hands of their partners but are not reporting for various reasons, including pride and fear of being ridiculed.

She also brought to light the situation in the prison where 95% of inmates are male and 5% female.

The presentations were followed by questions and clarifications from the audience and a plenary session followed.

All recommendations from the conference will be submitted to decision and policy-makers for consideration.