Men Empowering Network (MEN) emerged out of a few social groups across the country that had been quietly working to change the culture of violence here, targeting young males at the community level.
The transition from a network of community groups to a single body happened naturally, according to Dr Marlon Hestick, an executive member, who said that the executive members of MEN all shared a common goal — to stamp out domestic violence and abuse in general by addressing the root causes of the problems.
He said also that the group carried a common burden regarding the circumstance of the male in Guyana and the challenges that they face.
It was a short while ago that the body coalesced and mapped out an agenda to tackle the issue, drawing up a schedule for 2009 that runs until year end and includes a string of activities all geared towards sensitizing the public on the issue of abuse.
Speaking at the launch of MEN’s campaign to ‘Confront Domestic Violence’ at the International Convention Centre on Friday, Hestick said the challenges facing the men in Guyana are many and include unemployment, academic underachievement, problems in marriage and family life and male social and cultural influences.
On the issue of influences, he explained that MEN is concerned about adult males who have the power to sway younger men and as a consequence negatively impact society.
In terms of what the body has been doing, he disclosed that an executive member recently organised an inter-village football competition at West Demerara, which involved over 200 young men from very different social backgrounds. He added that MEN collaborated with the Ministry of Human Services at the finals of the competition and conducted a domestic violence awareness session.
But more notably, he pointed to the work of a social group from which MEN emerged saying that its efforts were instrumental in rehabilitating some young men who had run into trouble with the law.
Hestick revealed that 14 teenagers, who had broken and entered a mall and stole items, were committed to the social group through collaboration with the police on a programme that was designed to rehabilitate young men from leaning towards delinquency. Four of the 14 young men decided to further their education and enrolled at the University of Guyana within two years of their misdemeanour, Hestick said, adding that they were the first men in their families to go to Turkeyen.
“The MEN executive members have been working with young boys and men prior to our formation with some success,” Hestick added.
Further, he said another executive member works on the East Coast Demerara at the village level, constantly intervening in domestic violence situations while offering counselling and support. The organisation provides counselling and support to men whose alcohol consumption has been known to trigger their abusive behaviour, Hestick said.
Others on the executives have been using weekly television programmes to engage men on the general issue of manhood, but now especially on domestic violence.
According to Hestick, MEN’s involvement in the campaign against domestic violence is a compassionate response to pain and trauma that women, especially and the family by extension have suffered because of the beating and abuse of women in the society.
“Abuse is sometimes learned and many of Guyana’s sons who have seen their mothers and sister battered by men need the organised intervention that MEN proposes,” he said.
But as MEN seeks to engage males to stop violence against women, he said, there are several critical issues that point to a much deeper challenge than merely putting a stop to men hitting women, such as the issue of patriarchal power and that of men internalising violence.
He stated that MEN is also there to support traumatized adult males and boys exposed to abuse, and also collaborate with other agencies for abuse perpetrators to be rehabilitated.
He said too many men have grown up in households where their mothers were beaten by their fathers and “they grow up seeing violent behaviour towards women as the norm”.
Hestick said MEN fully understands the magnitude of its undertaking, adding that the body has already begun to work with non-traditional groups in order to meet their constituents such as the barber shops, deejays and sports associations.
Speaking about they have planned, he pointed to a mass media campaign; an in-school campaign to engage school aged children; training men to work with abusers in their community and organising a mass rally later this year to draw men together in a public demonstration against all forms of violence. He said also that they plan to provide relationship and marital counselling.