Talking about violence against women and girls: engaging men in constructive conversations around risk prevention
Date: Tuesday 24 June
Time: 11.00am - 12.15pm
Overview
WHO recognises violence against women and girls (VAWG) as a global public health issue requiring urgent prioritisation by healthcare systems.
Conversations about VAWG have usually focused on supporting victim/survivors. However, meaningful change must include focus on how we challenge and prevent male violence. This symposium aims to introduce the concept of masculinities and think about how to engage men in constructive discussions about violence prevention.
We will hear first from JJ Bola, a Kinshasa-born, British mental health social worker who is also a poet and writer exploring themes of masculinity, mental health, displacement and belonging. His book for young men, “Mask Off: Masculinity Redefined” was inspired by the feminism of bell hooks and is informed by his own experiences.
Our second speaker is Michael Conroy, the founder of “Men at Work CIC”, which delivers transformative training in the areas of challenging sexism, supporting healthy personal development and fostering violence-free relationships and communities. He will discuss strengths-based approaches to engage boys and young men, considering contemporary risks including inceldom, online influencers and online pornography.
Addressing domestic abuse (DA) is a key aspect of psychiatric practice. Adults and children who experience DA are more likely to develop mental disorders, making this topic a priority for the prevention of mental illness. Additionally, DA perpetration is more common among people with mental disorders, and there have been calls for a better response to DA perpetration by mental health services. DA can be perpetrated by, and towards, both sexes. However, the evidence shows that most DA that causes injury and death is perpetrated by males towards females.
Our final speaker Dr Calcia will present a framework for responding to domestic abuse perpetration in clinical settings, aimed at helping clinicians sensitively enquire and assess for domestic abuse perpetration.
In this session you will:
- Think and learn about the wider social and cultural aspects of masculinity and gain a richer perspective
- Think and learn about approaches likely to be most successful to engage men and boys in conversations about violence and risk to women that will also encourage positive change
- Learn how to sensitively enquire and assess for domestic abuse perpetration among all patients
- Understand how to respond to disclosure of domestic abuse perpetration disclosure by patients
Speakers
Chair: Dr Stella Kingett, North London Mental Health Foundation NHS Trust, London
Escaping toxic masculinity: exploring the impacts of toxic masculinity on young men and the people around them, on mental health, and examples of positive masculinity
Mr JJ Bola, North London Mental Health Foundation NHS Trust, London
Facilitating constructive engaging with boys and young men
Mr Michael Conroy, Men At Work CIC, Manchester
Identifying, assessing and responding to perpetration of domestic abuse: practice guide for mental health professionals
Dr Marilia Calcia, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; Doctoral researcher, King’s Women’s Mental Health, IoPPN, King’s College London, London
Please email congress@rcpsych.ac.uk or call 020 8618 4120 with any enquiries.