Code of Conduct
“It is essential that each of us live the values of gender justice” – Delhi Declaration and Call to Action, 2014, MenEngage Alliance
Core Principles
We are an international community with a shared mission to end patriarchal power by working with men and boys and challenging harmful and rigid notions of masculinity, for gender and social justice.
Accountability
Work to transform masculinities and engage men and boys in gender equality can have exciting and positive results for women’s rights, LGBTIQ rights, and other social justice causes. At the same time, despite good intentions, it can cause harm when done without proper care and consideration.
The Code of Conduct helps members remain consistent with the values and principles of the Alliance, both in their personal lives and in our professional and public work. It ensures a standard of accountability of all member organizations to others with whom we work, as well as an adherence of individual employees and volunteers of member organizations to the Core Principles of MenEngage Alliance.
Accountability at menengage alliance
We strive to be accountable in all the work we do.
That means regularly asking ourselves difficult questions, and creating spaces where we can invite and listen to critical feedback. The following resources are one part of the ongoing process of being accountable as an Alliance working to engage men and boys in gender justice and women’s rights.
Putting MenEngage Alliance On The Spot
What does MenEngage Alliance need to do better?
Read what feminists, women’s rights, LGBTIQA+ rights, and gender justice activists had to say about MenEngage Alliance at an Accountability Dialogue session in New York in March 2018. The ‘On The Spot’ report includes 17 recommendations for MenEngage Alliance, our members, and anyone working in the field of men and masculinities.
A Critical Dialogue on Engaging Men and Boys
How can work with men and boys become truly transformative?
The Critical Dialogue on Engaging Men and Boys in Gender Justice Summary Report captures global experiences, concerns, lessons learned and recommendations from individuals working on women’s rights and empowerment, and those working to engage men and boys.
Change Begins Within
What does accountability mean to people working with men and boys?
Read what accountability means for individuals, organizations and states in the Change Begins Within: Practices and Processes of Accountability report. The report provides an insight into discussions held during the 2nd MenEngage Global Symposium in November 2014.
Work to engage men and boys around gender equality and women’s rights has gained momentum and interest in recent years.
But this interest comes with a risk that such work is done in ways that are counterproductive to the needs and wishes of women and girls and other historically oppressed groups.
Even well-meaning interventions can inadvertently support the inequalities that feminist and women’s movements have been working so hard to dismantle for generations.
So how can we make sure projects targeting men and boys make real contributions to gender justice, women’s rights, and anti-oppression work? How can we make sure our work adds value to and supports the most marginalised groups who experience multiple forms of oppression? Those are some of the questions at the heart of accountability.
Accountability in practice
Accountability to the women’s movement and to other historically oppressed social groups is a necessary practice for building collaborative and equitable partnerships.
For MenEngage Alliance, being accountable means to:
BE CRITICALLY AWARE OF ONE’S OWN POWER AND PRIVILEGE, AND BE OPEN TO CRITICISM.
TAKE ACTION TO ADDRESS PERSONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES THAT GO AGAINST OUR PRINCIPLES OF GENDER EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS, ACKNOWLEDGING ANY HARM CAUSED AND MAKING AMENDS.
RESPECT AND PROMOTE WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP IN THE GENDER EQUALITY MOVEMENT.
CREATE STRUCTURES OF CONSULTATION AND PARTNERSHIPS WITH WOMEN’S RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS.
Accountability requires the development of a receptive capacity in men and others who have been placed in positions of power and privilege so that they can listen to the perspectives of the oppressed groups in order to become authentic allies.
Working on your accountability
Accountability is a process, not an end point. It takes continual work and is never ‘finished’.
To help you take meaningful action on accountability, MenEngage Alliance and partners have developed key resources for individuals and organizations working with men and boys: