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Last year, men’s place in the gender equality revolution too often seemed a story of backlash and bad behavior. The men who run many national and state governments beefed-up their efforts to stifle women’s reproductive rights and, in the US Senate, the good old boys kicked into gear to confirm that one of their own was entitled to a lifetime gig. And, well beyond the high-profile stories, huge numbers of women faced the ongoing realities of sexual assault, physical and emotional violence, and workplace harassment.
I’d like to start 2019, though, with a nod to a few of the encouraging things that didn’t make the year-end reviews. Things that tell me that an increasing number of men are embracing change and making equality a key part of their lives.
There was the news from the international mining giant Rio Tinto in an industry long dominated by men. It learned, through its Australian participation in an international campaign to end violence against women, the White Ribbon Campaign, that domestic violence has a big workplace impact. Imagine, for example, a woman driving a massive ore truck or wiring a high-voltage electrical panel who barely slept the night before she was getting beat up by her husband or can’t concentrate because she is living in fear of what will happen when she goes home that night?
And beyond the safety impact, research shows there is the increased absenteeism, late arrivals, lowered productivity, and sudden quitting to flee abuse.
Rio Tinto’s response in October, following the lead of their Australian counterparts, was to announce a dramatic policy covering thousands of employees in the US and Canada: any worker experiencing domestic violence can now get up to ten days off, fully paid, plus support for emergency housing. Also covered are those who need to rush off to help a family member who is experiencing abuse.
As importantly, the company began training managers and supervisors to spot the signs of abuse, to appropriately respond, and to work in cooperation with local women’s services.
Here’s another one I liked that showed the positive change that is underway. Funded by Verizon, The Joyful Heart Foundation did a survey of the attitudes of older boys and young men in the United States. Among its findings: 70 percent said that achieving gender equality was important to them. 72 percent said it was important to get involved if someone their age was getting bullied because of their sexual orientation. Only 14 percent agreed that looking after the kids was primarily a woman’s job.
And speaking of who looks after the kids, by far the biggest way men are playing a positive role in ending gender inequality and promoting better ideals of manhood is the wholesale transformation of fatherhood. The young fathers I met last year didn’t speak about “helping out” but rather of their full, active and equal participation as a parent. And although the US remains the only country in the world (along with Papua New Guinea and Lesotho) that doesn’t have guaranteed and paid parental leave, we saw a growing number of states, municipalities and companies introduce parental leave or extend it to fathers and same-sex partners.
Meanwhile, across the border, Canada announced that it will bring in a dramatic change to its parental leave policy. Currently, it offers 15 weeks of paid maternity leave plus 35 paid weeks that can be shared between parents (all paid at 55 percent of one’s salary and often topped up by employers). Five more weeks will be added this year that can be used only by a dad (or a same-sex spouse). This use-it-or-lose-it approach is modeled on the Nordic model that led to a massive increase in fathers taking parental leave and, so research tells us, has a lifelong impact on their active participation.
Yes, we need to continue to call out abusive men in 2019. We need to applaud the courage of women who refuse to live as second-class citizens or live with harassment. We need to stand up to those men (and women) who are working to roll back progress on women’s rights. We need to speak out against (and vote out!) political leaders who continue to wage a war against women.
But at the same time, we need to celebrate and champion the progress we are making. We need to find ways in our workplaces, our families, our communities, our schools to push forward women’s rights and healthier ideals of manhood. And in that, 2019, might just well be a pivotal year in the gender equality revolution.
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