The New ‘MASVAW Men’: Strategies, Dynamics and Deepening Engagements. A Case Study of a Networked Approach to Challenging Patriarchy Across Institutions in Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh is ranked second among Indian states in ‘crimes against women’, which includes rape, abduction, dowry-related deaths, mental and physical torture and sexual harassment (Government of Uttar Pradesh 2006: 130). The majority of such crimes against women are committed by family members, but this gendered violence and inequality also permeates the broader economy, systems and structures that govern everyday life. During the past 10–15 years, the issue of gender equality has been raised by civil society and government, and there have been some positive changes too. Yet, there is increasing fear among some men about decreasing opportunities as a result of women’s empowerment, reflected in the evolution of ‘men’s rights’ organisations, with anti-feminist agendas (Chowdhury 2014). Bucking this trend, since 2002, a growing group of men have built an engagement for addressing gender-based violence (GBV), in Men’s Action to Stop Violence Against Women, or MASVAW. This case study explores the role of men and boys in addressing sexual and gender-based violence through collective action; a collaboration between the Centre for Health and Social Justice in New Delhi, the network MASVAW in Uttar Pradesh, and the Institute of Development Studies in the United Kingdom. This partnership grew in an attempt to problematise and politicise the way the terms of the debate were being set in the broader field of engaging men in addressing GBV in the development field.UK Department for International Developmen

Therapeutic activism : Men of Hope Refugee Association Uganda breaking the silence over male rape in conflict-related sexual violence

Men’s experiences as victims of sexual and gender-based violence remain little recognised in research, policy or practice. Mainstream narratives generally continue to depict men as perpetrators of violence and women as victims. Yet, having been linked to forced migration in contexts of armed conflict, sexual violence against men is slowly becoming recognised as far more widespread than was previously thought. Responding to this, the Institute of Development Studies approached the Refugee Law Project and Men of Hope Refugee Association Uganda in order to jointly design and carry out a study on collective action among male survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. This report explores one central question addressed by the study: ‘despite the odds stacked against them, what makes it possible for male survivors of conflict-related sexual violence to organise and become activists, challenging discriminatory social and gender norms?’ The study finds that, despite pervasive discrimination, groups of male survivors have been able to develop resilience and mutual support through collective action. Further, the study finds that third-party service providers and non-governmental organisations can play an important support role in reinforcing the resilience and capacity of male survivors to organise collectively. The report addresses the overarching question through three main sub-questions: 1. How can looking at male survivors of sexual violence help us understand the complexity of men’s relationship to sexual and gender-based violence? 2. How and why do groups of male survivors of conflict-related sexual violence respond to their experiences of violence, oppression, stigmatisation and marginalisation, including as refugees? 3. How does the individual agency of male survivors of sexual violence living as refugees interact with collective action to respond to the experience of violence and marginalisation

MASVAW Movement Mapping Report: Movement Mapping and Critical Reflection with Activists of the Men’s Action to Stop Violence Against Women (MASVAW) Campaign, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, August 2014

Engaging men and boys in addressing gender-based violence has grown in attention over the past 20 years. However, the emerging field predominantly focuses on the issues as a problem of individuals, neglecting the role of the institutions and policies that shape norms of gender inequality and perpetuate violent power asymmetries between men and women in people’s everyday lives (Cornwall, Edström and Grieg 2011). Men’s engagement in addressing GBV has therefore tended to be relatively depoliticised, focusing predominantly on individuals’ attitude and behaviour change, and less on accountability of the structures that uphold patriarchal power relations and male supremacy, such as macroeconomic policies and the governance cultures of many formal and informal institutions. This movement mapping report thus introduces a collaborative research project between the Centre for Health and Social Justice (CHSJ), India, their local activist partners in the Men’s Action to Stop Violence Against Women (MASVAW) campaign and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) to explore the effectiveness of men’s collective action in addressing GBV. CHSJ is working across India on the issue of mobilising men to transform discriminatory norms into those based on equity, equality and gender justice to ensure the fundamental human rights of all people. The research is premised on the notion that challenging patriarchy and working towards gender equality must include working with men and boys to understand their privileges as well as the co-option, coercion and subjugation that they also face within a patriarchal system. In turn, we aim to improve understanding and knowledge of the changing roles of men in addressing GBV and how and why collective action holds possibilities as an effective strategy to support this in the Indian context. This research is exploring the actors, strategies, challenges, collaborations and pathways for future engagement of the MASVAW campaign that works across the state of Uttar Pradesh.UK Department for International Developmen

FACE TO FACE AGAIN - REPORT FROM THE DOCTORAL SYMPOSIUM IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION RESEARCH AT SEFI 2022

The 6th Doctoral Symposium at SEFI 2022 attracted 20 doctoral students and 17 senior researchers. After two years as an online event during the pandemic, it was organised as a fully in-person event. In preparation, the doctoral students wrote extended abstracts to introduce themselves and their PhD projects, while the seniorsprovided reading recommendations and advice. The intense, full-day program was based on group discussions and interactive plenary sessions. The Doctoral Symposium was concluded by a session in which each participant presented their take-home message. This paper outlines how the Doctoral Symposium was organised and summarizes some of the documentation

The Shifting Roles of Men in Collective Action on SGBV in Kenya: Report of a Movement and Influence Mapping Workshop, Nairobi, 3–5 July 2013

Over a decade and a half on from the landmark declarations of the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (UN 1994) and the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (UN 1995), there is now a growing consensus on the importance of engaging men and boys in efforts to stop violence against women and girls. Kenya’s 2008/09 Demographic and Health Survey indicated that 45 per cent of women aged 15–49 had experienced either physical or sexual violence — mostly committed by their husbands or partners. Some of the causes behind the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Kenya include traditional gender norms that support male superiority and entitlement, social norms that tolerate or justify violence against women, and weak community sanctions against perpetrators. While SGBV has been a feature of all societies throughout history, in Kenya women and girls suffered increased incidences of sexual violence in 2007-08 following accusations that the government manipulated the election process. This plunged the country into turmoil, with Kenya spiralling into a political, economic and humanitarian crisis that resulted in the death of 1,300 people and the displacement of around 300,000 people (Muhula 2009). In order to improve our understanding and knowledge of shifting roles of men in movements to address SGBV through collective action in Kenya, Men for Gender Equality Now (MEGEN), the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) joined together to engage with multiple actors in Kenya for collective learning through this workshop.UK Department for International Developmen

Construction and analysis of causally dynamic hybrid bond graphs

Engineering systems are frequently abstracted to models with discontinuous behaviour (such as a switch or contact), and a hybrid model is one which contains continuous and discontinuous behaviours. Bond graphs are an established physical modelling method, but there are several methods for constructing switched or ‘hybrid’ bond graphs, developed for either qualitative ‘structural’ analysis or efficient numerical simulation of engineering systems. This article proposes a general hybrid bond graph suitable for both. The controlled junction is adopted as an intuitive way of modelling a discontinuity in the model structure. This element gives rise to ‘dynamic causality’ that is facilitated by a new bond graph notation. From this model, the junction structure and state equations are derived and compared to those obtained by existing methods. The proposed model includes all possible modes of operation and can be represented by a single set of equations. The controlled junctions manifest as Boolean variables in the matrices of coefficients. The method is more compact and intuitive than existing methods and dispenses with the need to derive various modes of operation from a given reference representation. Hence, a method has been developed, which can reach common usage and form a platform for further study

Magnetic properties of (Fe1−x_{1-x}Cox_x)2_2B alloys and the effect of doping by 5dd elements

We have explored, computationally and experimentally, the magnetic properties of \fecob{} alloys. Calculations provide a good agreement with experiment in terms of the saturation magnetization and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy with some difficulty in describing Co$_2$B, for which it is found that both full potential effects and electron correlations treated within dynamical mean field theory are of importance for a correct description. The material exhibits a uniaxial magnetic anisotropy for a range of cobalt concentrations between $x=0.1$ and $x=0.5$. A simple model for the temperature dependence of magnetic anisotropy suggests that the complicated non-monotonous temperature behaviour is mainly due to variations in the band structure as the exchange splitting is reduced by temperature. Using density functional theory based calculations we have explored the effect of substitutional doping the transition metal sublattice by the whole range of 5$d$ transition metals and found that doping by Re or W elements should significantly enhance the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy. Experimentally, W doping did not succeed in enhancing the magnetic anisotropy due to formation of other phases. On the other hand, doping by Ir and Re was successful and resulted in magnetic anisotropies that are in agreement with theoretical predictions. In particular, doping by 2.5~at.\% of Re on the Fe/Co site shows a magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy which is increased by 50\% compared to its parent (Fe$_{0.7}$Co$_{0.3}$)$_2$B compound, making this system interesting, for example, in the context of permanent magnet replacement materials or in other areas where a large magnetic anisotropy is of importance.Comment: 15 pages 17 figure