MenCare+ Indonesia (“Laki Laki Peduli”) recently coordinated two events to showcase their interventions with male perpetrators of violence and lessons learned from the MenCare+ program in Indonesia.
In December 2015, MenCare+ Indonesia held a seminar in Jakarta to share their strategies for working with men who have perpetrated violence. Speakers included service providers, criminologists, women’s rights activists, government representatives, and group counseling participants. The seminar attracted a large online audience through its dedicated microsite, its Twitter hashtag #KonselingLelaki (“Counseling for Men,” in English), and a social media “Thunderclap” with a mass message about the seminar.
In January 2016, MenCare+ Indonesia held a side event at the International Conference on Family Planning (ICPF) in Nusa Dua to highlight lessons learned from the program. The event shared a case study from a behavior-change program that engaged men to actively participate in family planning and contraceptive use. It also examined best practices from MenCare+ partners’ work in four provinces in Indonesia: Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Lampung, and East Java.
The side event aimed to communicate the message that engaging men is crucial and strategic for improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes for all. Advancing this work includes engaging men in discussions about the importance of healthy relationships, including their support for the sexual and reproductive health of their partners and respect for their partners’ rights and autonomy.
MenCare+ is a three-year initiative in Rwanda, Indonesia, Brazil, and South Africa to engage men aged 15 to 35 as partners in maternal, newborn, and child health and in sexual and reproductive health and rights. It is coordinated by Rutgers and Equimundo.