On
the 14 – 15 January, a unique Barbershop Conference was held to help end
violence against women and girls.  What made this conference different was that
it aimed to bring men and boys into the conversation about ending gender
violence.  Violence against women and girls is a pervasive violation of human
rights and an unacceptable manifestation of gender-based discrimination and
inequality.  SI UN Representatives Paulette
Forbes-Igharo and Bette Levy, attended the Conference.

Photo:  The all-male panel at the Barbershop Conference. 

“The
aim of the Barbershop Conference is to rally men and boys into a pro-active
commitment to gender equality and at changing the discourse among men and
boys,”  says Ms. Gréta Gunnarsdóttir, the Permanent Representative of Iceland to the UN. 

This conference comes during
the ongoing HeForShe campaign, and in the run up to CSW59.  It is also anchored
in the Beijing+20 Campaign ‘Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture
it!’,  that aims to create broad political and social support for the
realisation of gender equality.  As such,
the Barbershop Conference is trying to promote the involvement of men and boys
in making gender equality a reality at a critical time.

 

Photo:  Bette Levy (centre) attending the launch of the Beijing+20 Campaign "Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture It!". 

The Barbershop Conference had a
series of expected outcomes, including finding concrete and innovative ways for
men to mobilise and motivate other men, addressing discriminatory stereotypes
of masculinity.

Bette Levy says:  “For me the most interesting part of the day
was to hear how much the men had to struggle to put themselves in the position
women face daily.  There was quite a bit of discussion regarding simple things
like having to make a decision to cross the street as you walk down a street,
where or when you could go somewhere, fear of being raped or killed because of
the way they dressed.  Men in general do not fear for their safety in the same
way women do and this was a new experience for them and they truly had a hard
time. Author Margaret Atwood was quoted by the moderator Todd Minerson (White
Ribbon Campaign, Canada) “Men fear women will laugh at them… Women fear men will
kill them.”

 

Photo: A slide from a presentation made at the Barbershop Conference.

At the event there was a
variety of sessions, including an all-women panel discussion, and breakout
groups exploring issues such as benefits of the patriarchy for men, benefits
for women, harms for men, and the harms women experience because of the
patriarchy.  There was also a ceremony where Ambassadors, celebrities and others
could declare themselves part of HeForShe.

UN Representative Bette continues: “The highlight of
the event was a 13 year old boy, from New Jersey, who stood up and said he was
a HeForShe and had proved it already with his own personal efforts to raise
money to send girls to school, because girls should have a right to be educated
as well as boys.”

 

Video: Max Bryant, aged 13, spoke about the importance of HeForShe and the value of education for women and girls at the Barbershop Conference at the United Nations in New York. Video via  Utanríkisráðuneytið – MFA Iceland.

The Barbershop event was unique
because it was the first time at the UN that member states had hosted an
all-male event to specifically discuss violence against women. During a private
lunch event 110 male Ambassadors met to discuss what it would feel like to live
in fear of violence, and to not have human rights. Co-chair of the event, Ambassador
Henry MacDonald of Surname, described the discussion as being so powerful that
the men did not want to stop talking, so the lunchtime discussion had to be
extended.

Involving men in achieving
gender equality is not a new idea for Soroptimist International, who hosted an
all-male panel parallel event at CSW58 called ‘Blue is the New Pink’. That
event featured a male
perspective on breaking down gender stereotypes and working to achieve gender
equality for both women and men.  The panel also addressed the barriers
men face entering into traditionally female-dominated fields, as well as the difficulties men experiences in breaking male stereotypes.

 

Image: exert of the CSW59 ‘Blue is the New Pink’ flyer.

2015 is a crucial year for gender equality, and increasingly it appears
if men would like to play a role in engaging other men and finding solutions
that will accelerate the achievement of gender equality to the benefit of
everyone.

To find out more about UN Women’s HeForShe campaing, please take a look at the HeForShe website here.