About us - Global Boyhood Initiative

Unhealthy ideas about boyhood and manhood are reproduced generation to generation around the world in families, schools, athletic and community programs, and in media.

The Global Boyhood Initiative is designed to break this pattern.

Why engage boys in conversations about gender equality?

Boys receive many messages about their masculinity and how they should behave, which often suggest that they need to close themselves off emotionally. This can limit boys’ development of connected relationships, reinforce sexist attitudes and behaviors, and normalize the use of violence, bullying, and harassment.

We advocate for a world where boys feel free to be their authentic selves, free from harmful masculine norms.

Our Partners

Founded by Equimundo and the Kering Foundation in 2020, GBI is coordinated by Equimundo with advisory support by a Partners’ Council composed of members from national and international civil society organizations. The Partners’ Council includes organizations that have identified the work on boyhood as a core priority, have a global or strong national reach and alignment with Equimundo and the GBI principles, and can help elevate the voice of boys themselves, while also advising GBI on its strategic directions.

We want to support boys to…

1

Share emotions in healthy ways

2

Accept and connect with others

3

Stand up and speak out against bullying and inequality

4

Break free from stereotypes

We believe boys will be...

1

Connected

Yet harmful, restrictive norms related to manhood often keep boys from having close relationships.

2

Fully human

We don't believe boys are walking problems – we view boys from a positive perspective.

3

Good friends

Boys must have deep friendships with those who support them to be themselves.

4

Allies

Boys can be active bystanders by speaking out when they see other boys (and girls) cause harm.

5

Respectful in relationships

We must model and teach healthy, intimate relationships and healthy sexuality for all children.

6

Caring

Care is a part of all of our lives, and we must help boys internalize this from a young age.

7

Healthy

We must help boys think critically about positive aspirations of masculinity versus harmful ideas about being a man.

8

Emotionally literate

We must help boys understand their own emotions, how they react to them, and how to seek help when they need it.

9

Critical media consumers

Media aimed at boys, including TV, video games, and pornography, often contains harmful gender norms.

10

Free to be themselves – in all their diversity

We must free boys and ourselves to break out of homophobic, transphobic, and heteronormative ideas.

The Global Boyhood Initiative’s Impact Across The World

In the UK, we published the first ever ‘The State of UK Boys’ report, and created an evidence based school intervention facilitated by teachers to promote reflection on gender equality, inclusion, and non-violence among boys and girls aged 7 to 11 years old. We also created resources for parents and carers, went live with several social media, and participated in events such as the WOW Fest 2023.

Partners: Lifting Limits, The Children’s Society, University College London

Over in France, we have created Les Ateliers de L’égalité (Equality workshops) for 8 to 13 year olds in schools. This evidence-based program talks about gender roles and aims to strengthen boys’ and girls’ ability to express their emotions and solve problems.

Partners: En Avant Toute(s)

In Italy, we have conducted mixed method research ahead of the drawn up a stakeholder map, identifying the main people and groups working with teenagers on gender-related topics – helping us form partnerships, and plan future GBI programs in Italy.

Partners: Plan International Italy; Bocconi University

In Bolivia, we have created a program for schools which will take place in three locations across Santa Cruz. The initiative will work with teachers, parents, boys and girls to promote gender equality and support connected and non-violent relationships.

Partners: Colectivo Rebeldía

In Tijuana, Monterrey, CDMX and Tuxtla Gutierrez, we have been researching the impact of social norms on boys aged 3 to 6 and 8 to 13, analyzing the messaging they receive from adults in the school and home environments. This will be published in the first ever report titled ‘The State of Mexican Boys: how boys learn to be men’ being released at the end of 2023. We then plan to create school workshops in response to our findings, as well as materials for parents to question unhealthy gender roles and promote non-violence, and gender equality.

Partners: GENDES

Equimundo and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) have worked together on the development of a new gender-transformative methodology to work with very young adolescents (boys and girls) to be implemented across the US. Piloted in 20 BGCA clubs so far with very positive feedback from BGCA facilitators, the methodology is currently being finalized.

Partners: Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA)

Equimundo and Room to Read have worked together in the Banteay Meanchey province of Cambodia, supporting secondary school boys in Grades 7 and 8 to develop life skills needed to succeed in school and beyond while challenging harmful gender norms. Through specially designed classroom sessions and school events, boys engage with their boy and girl peers to discuss various topics through the lens of gender dynamics, such as health, equality, sexual violence and harassment.

Partners: Room to Read Cambodia

In 2024, we began a three-year project to adapt and scale our gender-transformative educational intervention to engage primary school youth in Malawi. The key objective of the initiative is to develop, test, and scale an intervention that increases primary school-aged boys’ engagement in education and schooling.

Partners: UNESCO, University of East Anglia, CAVWOC, International Development Research Centre’s Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KiX)

Co-founders

Co-founded in 2020 by Equimundo and the Kering Foundation, we aim to support boys aged 4 to 13 and the adults in their lives with the resources they need to raise, teach and set an example for boys to become men who embrace healthy masculinity and gender equality.