part 3
After reading my columns on the Ordinance on Men’s Responsibility in Gender and Development (MR GAD) with attorney Marilyn Riley, our class representative, when I was an American Field Service student at Granite Hills High School, California several years ago. in Davao City, I received the following comments:
“This is an excellent program that should be adopted worldwide. Men seem to be afraid to talk to other men except about their work, politics and sports. I find it sad that for the most part men cannot talk about their feelings and problems with each other. That way women have more freedom than they do. “
This feedback is an indication that men, even in a different cultural setting, are unable to express their feelings and problems to other men because they have generally been socialized to believe that they should be emotionally strong and strong Men don’t cry. Men’s inability to communicate with peers and other people and to suppress their emotions has been linked to risky behaviors such as smoking, alcoholism, substance abuse, violence, and injury. They also rarely seek medical, psychological, and other health services. These are some of the reasons why more men than women around the world have committed suicide. Although there are more women who are depressed and have attempted suicide, the number of men who take their own lives is three to four times higher than the suicide rate among women. (See Helen Schumacher. March 18, 2019, Why More Men Than Women Die By Suicide, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190313-why-more-men-kill-themselves-than-women; World Health Organization Suicide Worldwide Global Estimates 2019, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240026643).
In the past 21 months, male suicide rates have reportedly increased in many parts of the world as the role of men as breadwinners was changed – after jobs or livelihoods were lost due to the economic downturn caused by Covid. 19. It has also exacerbated frustration and depression among young people because of their education and training that make them home and unable to move around and interact face-to-face with their peers.
Although the Philippines has one of the lowest suicide rates in the world, the number of suicide deaths per 100,000 population shows an increasing trend from 1.80 in 2000 to 2.20 in 2019. The majority (almost three quarters) are committed by men. The highest number of suicide cases is between the ages of 15 and 24 years. (See https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/PHL/philippines/suicide-rate; https://www.who.int/mental_health/suicide -Prevention / Länderprofile / PHL.pdf).
There are several strategies being used in different parts of the world to address this public health issue.
I believe that the MR GAD package of programs and services will be able to make positive contributions to resolving the above issue and other related issues relating to the health and wellbeing of men as it is “men-with- Men’s speeches and peer-to-peer strategies “and is intended to” provide space for men and boys to discuss openly, without fear, ridicule or shame, of their personal and social problems and issues related to gender and development. “
Through the local teams of MR GAD, the leaders of the Barangay (village) are urged by the city government to develop programs and guidelines that reduce and reduce smoking, alcoholism, drug use and other male-defined risky behaviors related to violence, abuse and oppression / or should eliminate.
The proposed Men’s Health Center will develop and provide a range of services for “men’s mental health, including anger management, men-to-man counseling, alcoholism and drug use counseling, and parenting counseling, among others”. Cell phone or internet hotlines can be set up to provide assistance to men who need immediate help from a life support advisor. The city government intends to recruit a trained male mental health professional to provide appropriate health services. These programs and services are offered in partnership with the city’s Mental Health Wellness Center.
Aside from mental health services, the city government promotes reproductive and sexual health and rights of men (RSHR) and offers the following men’s specific programs and services through the Center for Men’s Health in partnership with the city population department of the city health office: a) Adolescent Boy Health; b) Aging and andropause (male menopause, an age-related change in male hormone levels that can trigger physical, sexual and psychological difficulties in many men over the age of 50); c) family planning; d) impotence and fertility disorders; e) vasectomy without a scalpel; f) prostate screening; and g) sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV / AIDS screening and management.
Although men are often the perpetrators of domestic and gender-based violence (GBV), the MR GAD regulation also mandates that they should play an important role in their barangay by participating in the promotion of “nonviolent” communities by local government . However, should they become a victim of gender-based violence, they may lodge a complaint in accordance with this legislation and other relevant national and local laws.
The city of Davao passed a corresponding law in 2012 called the “Anti-Discrimination Ordinance”, which aims to “punish acts of discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, race, national or ethnic origin, religion or belief, and state of health.” This law was amended on March 22, 2019 to help people suffering from communicable diseases such as hepatitis B, HIV and AIDS, and tuberculosis, who are discriminated against by health and other care providers.
The aim is to improve the skills of the gender desk staff of the Philippine National Police in order to be able to effectively administer and support male GBV victims. GBV is viewed as a type of discrimination and the MR GAD regulation has listed some of these discriminatory acts as follows:
“1. Denial of access to public or private services, facilities, utilities, and facilities open to the public based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression (sogie);
“2. Require disclosure and use of Sogie as criteria for hiring, promotion, transfer, naming, assignment, termination, performance review, compensation, career development, training, and incentives
“3. Harassment, coercion or threat by members of institutions involved in law enforcement or the protection of rights against someone for his / her sogie;
4. Speeches, remarks, and expressions, whether oral or online, that offend, shame, denigrate, or incite discrimination against a person because of sogie;
“5. All other forms of verbal, physical, visual, sexual and psychological harassment analogous to the above.”
In order to achieve the desired peace, harmony and gender equality in Davao city, how the local government unit translates into action and measures the gender needs of its male voters as set out in the MR GAD regulation is crucial maintains their support.
source https://www.bisayanews.com/2021/09/13/mr-gad-ordinance-on-men-and-adolescent-boys-health-and-well-being/
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