Working with young men to promote sexual and reproductive health

Abstract

Gender is increasingly acknowledged as central to understanding young people's experiences of sexual relationships and health. This document, produced by Safe Passages to Adulthood, reports on the results of a meeting held in 2001 to discuss innovative and successful work to promote sexual and reproductive health amongst young men in developing countries, and sets out the good practice guidelines which emerged from the meeting. The good practice guide sets out: what we know about young men's experience of sexual health (informed by research done in different across the world) different approaches to working with young men (illustrated by case studies of projects in Latin America, Africa and Asia).

Policy-makers, practitioners and researchers working to promote young people's sexual health in resource-constrained settings will find this resource particularly useful. It draws on research from projects in seventeen countries. Common findings included that: ideas about manliness and masculinity exert a powerful influence; young men’s sexual and reproductive health needs are neglected; and there was often considerable opposition to work with young men.

The authors offer some tentative guidelines for those planning to work on sexual and reproductive health with young men. They emphasise the importance of picking up on the lessons learned from other projects, although these models are not necessarily replicable from context to context. Providers of information and services need to be trained and supported in providing appropriate youth and male-friendly services. In some cases young men benefited from working in mixed sex groups. Other recommendations include: finding alternatives to dominant masculine stereotypes; challenging homophobia; giving young men a chance to talk about their own experiences; and involving them as fully as possible in programme design and delivery.

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