Working with men and boys to reduce violence against women in Rohingya camps

Above: Muhammed Ekram and Abdul Muttalib are proud to work on reducing gender based violence in their community. Both men have participated in Oxfam’s male engagement group in Camp 3 for the past two and a half years. Photo: Nargis Sultana/Oxfam

The high prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) against women and girls in Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, has complex and multifaceted roots.

The crowded camps are home to a largely trauma-affected population, who escaped extreme ethnic violence in Myanmar. Prevailing social and gender norms continue to put Rohingya women and girls at increased risk of violence.

As part of events to mark ’16 Days of Activism of Against Gender Based Violence’ in the Australian Humanitarian Partnership’s Rohingya Response in Bangladesh last year, the Oxfam gender team held a male engagement session on preventing and mitigating violence against women.

Oxfam Gender Associate Nargis Sultana ran the session with 34 men and adolescent boys in Camp 3. Nargis talked with the men and boys about how family conflicts can be resolved without resorting to violence, by recognising the rights of women and girls, and seeking assistance from elders in the family and community.

Above: Oxfam Gender Associate Nargis Sultana helps to train Rohingya male engagement group members on how to facilitate community sessions on preventing and mitigating gender based violence. Photo: Oxfam Bangladesh

Each participant will be supported to roll out these key messages within their communities through small sessions with their friends, families and neighbours.

The men and boys undertook role playing exercises to practice facilitating the sessions, with a particular focus on how to overcome community perceptions that intimate partner violence is a ‘personal matter’.

Two of the men who participated in the engagement session shared their perspectives. Abdul and Mohammed are neighbours, and have been participating in the male engagement groups since they started in their camp, about two and a half years ago.

Abdul Muttalib, 60

As far back as Abdul can remember, he disliked the practice of dowry that he saw in his community in Myanmar. Young women from poor families who could not afford to pay a large dowry to get married were socially excluded and he could see this affected their self-esteem, but he didn’t know what he could do to stop this practice.

After the escalation of violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar in 2017, Abdul fled with his family across the border to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. He found shelter in the area now known as Camp 3, and he heard about Oxfam’s male engagement groups where gender issues such as preventing violence against women and stopping the practice of dowry were discussed. Abdul was happy to join as he now had an opportunity to join with others in his community to improve the lives of women and girls.

Abdul says that violence only creates more violence.

“If I behave badly towards my wife, my brother-in-law may think it is acceptable to beat my sister,” Abdul says. “Similarly, my son-in-law may be violent with my daughter. Then where does all this violence get us? We must stop violence against women in our homes for a peaceful community.”

Mohammed Ekram, 16

Mohammed Ekram was only 11 years old when he was forcibly displaced from Myanmar to Bangladesh. There are few education and leisure activities available in the Rohingya camps for teenage boys like him. Mohammad joined Oxfam’s male engagement groups as a way to engage positively in his community. Some of his friends have started to engage in delinquent or anti-social behaviour because of a lack of anything better to do.

“Joining Oxfam’s male groups gives me a chance to continue to learn and improve my education. So I am doing something good rather than what I see some of my friends are doing,” Mohammed said.

Abdul and Mohammad agree that violence against women and girls is less accepted now in their communities, but it continues to be an ongoing issue that requires more support to address on a wider scale.

These activities to engage men and boys in ending violence against women and girls are part of the Australian Humanitarian Partnership response in Bangladesh, which is implemented by a consortium of all six lead Australian NGOs, with the support of the Australian Government.