Challenging Violence against Women
Our Challenging Violence Against Women Project is the only one of its kind in Scotland. We are a team of men who work in partnership with other men to tackle gender inequality. We believe that real, lasting change happens when everyone is part of the conversation.
How we deliver this project
Our work is focused on creating safer communities for everyone. We do this by helping men understand the issues, challenge harmful attitudes, and become allies for positive change. By working together, we can reduce the rates of violence against women and build a culture of respect.
Training and Workshops
Our workshops bring men together to have open conversations about difficult topics. We provide the knowledge to recognise gender-based violence, FGM, and honour-based violence, and the confidence to challenge harmful attitudes in a supportive, educational environment.
Outreach Sessions
We meet men in familiar community spaces, like local groups and religious centres. These outreach sessions help us build trust and have honest conversations, providing support and information to individuals and small groups in a comfortable, accessible setting.
Partner Organisations
We share our unique approach with partner organisations to build a stronger collective response. This training equips professionals with the understanding and tools needed to effectively engage men in the work of ending violence against women.
Community Events
Our community events bring men, supporters, and partner organisations together. They are spaces for building alliances, sharing ideas, and raising awareness, strengthening our collective commitment to creating communities where women and girls are safe from harm.
Why is this project for Men?
We work with men to support them to change their attitudes and practices and influence others in their communities. Social change affects the entire community. It is important that men are involved in this process to come up with lasting solutions. Ensuring that everyone has basic knowledge of their rights and responsibilities helps us achieve our aim of enabling women to lead a dignified life free from violation of human rights.
The Men's Group at Maryhill Integration Network made the short film to discuss violence against women, and what we can do collectively and as individuals to end gender based violence. The film ties into the international campaign The White Ribbon Campaign.
How we achieve and measure our impact
We connect with people in different ways. We run workshops, but we also go out into local groups to meet people where they are. Our work is built on trust and creating strong relationships. Our main methods include:
The Challenging Violence Against Women project was part-funded by the National Lottery Community Fund between 2018-2021. As part of the review of the project, in 2021 we commissioned an external evaluation by Ruthless Research. This evaluation shows the significant impact our work and approach of working with men through men has on changing the attitude of men and in reducing support for FGM and other forms of gender based violence.