Senegal’s ‘schools for husbands’ aim to shift gender roles

On a caller evening successful Senegal’s capital, Dakar, an imam named Ibrahima Diane explained to a radical of men wherefore they ought to beryllium much progressive successful household chores.

“The prophet himself says that a antheral who does not assistance to enactment his woman and children is not a bully Muslim,” said the 53-year-old, arsenic helium described bathing his babe and assisting his woman with different duties.

Some of the men chuckled, not wholly convinced, portion others applauded.

Diane was participating successful a “school for husbands”, a United Nations-backed inaugural successful which respected antheral assemblage members larn astir “positive masculinity” successful narration to wellness and societal issues, and beforehand these concepts wrong their communities.

In Senegal, arsenic successful galore different West African countries with ample agrarian oregon blimpish populations, men often person the last accidental successful large household decisions, including those related to health.

Women whitethorn necessitate their husbands’ support for life-changing decisions, specified arsenic accessing household readying oregon different reproductive wellness services, arsenic good arsenic infirmary deliveries oregon prenatal care.

After attending the schoolhouse for husbands, Diane regularly delivers sermons during Friday prayers, successful which helium discusses issues astir sex and reproductive health, from gender-based unit to combating stigma surrounding HIV.

“Many women admit my sermons,” helium said. “They accidental their husbands’ behaviour has changed since attending them.” He added that immoderate men person told him the sermons inspired them to go much caring husbands and fathers.

The programme was launched successful Senegal successful 2011, but successful caller years has attracted the attraction of the Ministry of Women, Family, Gender and Child Protection, which regards it arsenic an effectual strategy for combatting maternal and babe mortality.

“Without men’s involvement, attitudes towards maternal wellness volition not change,” said Aida Diouf, a 54-year-old pistillate wellness idiosyncratic who collaborates with the programme. Many husbands similar their wives not to beryllium treated by antheral wellness workers, she explained.

Discussions for men person besides focused connected girls’ rights, equality, and the harmful effects of pistillate genital mutilation.

The programme present operates astatine slightest 20 schools passim Senegal, and much than 300 men person been trained.

In immoderate communities, men who erstwhile enforced patriarchal norms present beforehand sex equality, a displacement which has led to a simplification successful the fig of forced marriages and greater acceptance of household planning, according to Senegal’s Ministry of Gender.

Men articulation the groups aft being recruited based connected trust, enactment and commitment. Candidates indispensable beryllium married, respected locally, and supportive of women’s wellness and rights.

After training, the men service arsenic adjacent educators, visiting homes and hosting informal discussions.

Although maternal and babe deaths successful Senegal person declined implicit the past decade, experts accidental determination is inactive overmuch advancement to beryllium made. The state recorded 237 maternal deaths per 100,000 unrecorded births successful 2023, and 21 newborns retired of each 1,000 died wrong their archetypal month. The UN’s planetary people is to trim maternal deaths to 70 per 100,000 unrecorded births and newborn deaths to nether 12 per 1,000 by 2030.

A cardinal occupation is that galore women person continued to springiness commencement astatine home, said El Hadj Malick, 1 of the programme’s coordinators.

“By educating men astir the value of supporting their wives during pregnancy, taking them to infirmary and helping with home enactment astatine home, you are protecting people’s health,” Malick said.

He noted that helium inactive encounters trouble successful changing attitudes connected immoderate issues.

“But erstwhile we absorption connected women’s close to beryllium healthy, it gives a quality look to the conception and it becomes universal,” Malick said.