PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Mike Buchanan

Telephone: +44 7967 026163

Email: info@menandboys.org

#GenderEqualityForMen: Council Launches Global Campaign to Remedy 12 Areas of Male Disadvantage

March 4, 2024 – The International Council for Men and Boys is today launching a global campaign to address the numerous disparities that affect men and boys around the world. The centerpiece of the campaign is a new compilation of reports gleaned from the World Health Organization (WHO), International Labor Organization (ILO), and other international agencies.

The compilation documents the disturbing extent of global male disadvantage:

  1. Education: “Women reversed the education gap and now have higher completion rates than men for primary, secondary, and even tertiary education,” according to the World Bank (1).
  2. Health: Life expectancy gap of 5 years: Men: 68.9 years; Women: 73.9 years, according to the WHO (2).
  3. Workplace: Men experience nearly twice the rate of occupational injuries as women, according to the ILO (3).
  4. Homelessness: 76% of homeless persons are men (4).
  5. Homicide Victims: Males account for 78% of all homicide victims, according to the WHO (5).
  6. Military Conscription: Many countries have compulsory military service only for men (6).
  7. Intimate Partner Violence: Far fewer services are available for male victims of domestic violence, even though men are equally likely as women to be targets of partner abuse (7).
  8. Children: 97 million boys, compared to 63 million girls, are subjected to child labor, according to the ILO (8).
  9. Legal System: As a result of court biases in child custody decisions, fathers represent only 15.7% of all single parent households, according to UN Women (9).
  10. Reproductive Rights: Upon becoming pregnant, a woman can choose to have the baby, get an abortion, or put the baby up for adoption. Men have none of these rights (10).
  11. Extreme Weather: Men are far more likely than women to die from extreme natural heat (11) or excessive cold (12).
  12. Media Portrayals: 69% of media accounts depict men in an unfavorable light (13).

A more detailed listing of the 12 male disparities is available online (14).

Globally, women have become some of the strongest proponents of programs to address the disparities affecting men and boys (15).

Lawmakers in Australia, the United Kingdom, United States, and elsewhere are debating proposals to establish commissions to afford long-overdue attention to the disparities affecting men (16). In Nigeria, the State Ministry of Youth and Social Development has endorsed the upcoming “Boys Future, Boys Challenge: Summit ’24,” to be held on May 18. (17)

The International Council for Men and Boys encourages lawmakers to take steps to establish commissions, ministers, and programs devoted to assuring gender equality for males in countries around the world.

The International Council for Men and Boys is working to end the sex disparities that affect men and boys around the world. www.menandboys.net 

Links:

  1. https://issuu.com/world.bank.publications/docs/9780821388105
  2. https://www.worlddata.info/life-expectancy.php#:~:text=The%20world%20average%20age%20of,data%20from%20the%20year%202021
  3. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hf1zRYHNDJjvunWWeoOl33VTVmPADtijzMniAmxBPRE/edit#gid=1182790177
  4. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hf1zRYHNDJjvunWWeoOl33VTVmPADtijzMniAmxBPRE/edit#gid=1526345150
  5. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hf1zRYHNDJjvunWWeoOl33VTVmPADtijzMniAmxBPRE/edit#gid=1399870825
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_service
  7. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261543769_References_Examining_Assaults_by_Women_on_Their_Spouses_or_Male_Partners_An_Updated_Annotated_Bibliography
  8. https://www.ilo.org/ipec/Informationresources/WCMS_797515/lang–en/index.htm
  9. https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Library/Publications/2019/Progress-of-the-worlds-women-2019-2020-en.pdf
  10. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/plr/vol47/iss3/2/
  11. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7134a5.htm#:~:text=During%201999%E2%80%932020%2C%20the%20annual,statistically%20significant%20increase%20among%20females.
  12. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6151a6.htm#:~:text=Approximately%2067%25%20of%20hypothermia%2Drelated,Source%3A%20National%20Vital%20Statistics%20System.
  13. https://www.amazon.com/Media-Male-Identity-Making-Remaking/dp/023000167X
  14. www.menandboys.net
  15. https://endtodv.org/pr/growing-enthusiasm-and-support-for-ministers-for-men-especially-among-women/
  16. https://endtodv.org/camp/council-on-men-and-boys/
  17. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bman-advocacy-6a24a8166_bfbcsummit-boys-worlddayoftheboychild-activity-7168612332640702464-rAWt