In Kenya, program changes male attitudes about sexual violence, Stanford study finds

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-06/sumc-ikp060815.php

Public Release: 9-Jun-2015
Stanford University Medical Center

In Kenya, where rape and violence against women are rampant, a short educational program produced lasting improvements in teenage boys' and young men's attitudes toward women, a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine has found.

The boys and men in the study also were more likely to try to halt violence against women after participating in the program.

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The program was developed by No Means No Worldwide, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that works in the slums of Nairobi to prevent sexual assault on girls and women. Prior Stanford studies have shown that the group's empowerment training for adolescent girls produces large reductions in the rate at which these girls are raped. The curriculum for males aimed to change attitudes that lead adolescent boys and young men to think it is acceptable to assault or rape their female peers.

'The curriculum for these young men is centered on getting them to think about what kind of people they want to be,' said lead author Jennifer Keller, Ph.D., clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. 'It's about really getting them invested in why they need to step up and care about violence toward women: it affects their mothers, sisters and girlfriends.'

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