The Neighborhood Environment Watch (NEW) Foundation has trained selected male advocates from the South-East to champion gender justice and curb gender-based violence (GBV).
The Training of Trainers (TOT), held in Abakaliki between Monday and Tuesday, brought together participants from Abia, Anambra, Enugu and Imo states under the Male Feminists Network (MFN) initiative funded by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre-LSD) with support from the Ford Foundation.
Dr John Otu, chairman, Board of Trustees of NEW Foundation who declared the workshop open said feminism was not a threat to society but a call for fairness and dignity for every human being irrespective of gender.
He urged participants to practice the knowledge gained from the training first in their homes and communities in order to promote positive cultural change.
The Executive Director of the foundation, Dr Kelechi Okezie, in his remark described the initiative as a strategic investment in building competent male allies across the geopolitical zones.
The Executive Director said the training formed part of a broader movement to mobilise men as champions of gender equity, stating that male feminism was not intended to diminish the dignity of men but to encourage them to stand in defence of women and girls.
He thanked participants for honouring the invitation despite the short notice and urged them to take the knowledge back to their communities to help reduce the prevalence of GBV.
Facilitators took participants through topics such as understanding feminism, myths and facts about feminism, male allyship against GBV, positive and negative masculinity.
The participants were trained on methodologies, bystander intervention and strategies for responding to GBV.
One of the facilitators, Dr Chukwuemeka Okoro, explained that feminism was advocacy for the rights of a person regardless of gender, while another facilitator, Mr Cypril Ukpa, stressed that anyone who cared about humanity was a feminist.
Representatives from the four states identified dominant GBV practices in their localities, including domestic violence, rape, widowhood practices, female genital mutilation (FGM) and child labour.
They pledged to champion state-level advocacy to reduce the abuses.
A participant, Mr Benjamin Ogbonna, noted that feminism was not about hating men but about creating a society where both sexes had equal opportunities.
Our correspondent further reports that participants expressed renewed commitment to promoting empathy, accountability and non-violence across the South-East through community-based gender justice initiatives.
