Thursday 19-11-2020 - 11:51

International Men’s Day, or World Men’s day, is celebrated annually worldwide in at least 60 countries on the 19^th of November. It is a day where issues affecting men and boys can be addressed in striving for gender equality and removing the negative images and stigma associated with men in our society. Every man, woman, girl and boy in the world is invited to come together and celebrate men and boys in all their diversity.

How did it start?

The event was introduced in 1992 by Thomas Oaster, and was revived in 1999 in Trinidad and Tobago by Jerome Teelucksingh, who chose the date of November the 19^th to honour his father’s birthday and also to celebrate Trinidad and Tobago’s 1989 qualification for the Football World Cup. The November date is now perfectly fitting for the celebration of Movember, a month dedicated to raising awareness for issues surrounding men’s health.

What does International Men’s Day mean in the UK?

In the UK, there are three core themes for International Men’s Day. These are:

• Making a positive difference to the wellbeing and lives of men and boys
• Raising awareness and/or funds for charities supporting men and boys’ wellbeing
• Promoting a positive conversation about men, manhood and masculinity

 

These themes have been put into place with the aim of addressing some of the key issues affecting men and boys such as:

• COVID-19 – since the UK was struck by coronavirus earlier this year, men make up 61% of deaths from the disease.

 

• High male suicide rate – men make up three quarters of suicides in the UK. In 2018, 4,903 men took their own lives.

 

• The challenges faced by boys and men at all stages of education – boys have had worse exam results than girls for over 30 years in their GCSEs, with girls now 14% more likely to pass their exams in English and maths (64% for girls, 56% for boys).

 

• Men’s health, including cancer, shorter life expectancy and workplace deaths – 12,031 men died from prostate cancer in 2017 (33 per day) .

 

 

• Challenges faced by the most marginalized men and boys in society, such as homeless men, boys in care and the high rate of male deaths in custody. 85% of rough sleepers in 2019 are male.

 

• Male victims of violence including domestic violence – in 2018/19, 786,000 men suffered from domestic abuse. One in three victims of domestic abuse in the UK are male.

 

• Challenges faced by men as parents, particularly new fathers and separated fathers.

 

 

• Male victims and survivors of sexual abuse, rape, sexual exploitation, domestic abuse, forced marriage, honourbased crime, stalking and slavery. 140,000 men were estimated to have been victims of sexual assault in 2017/18 alone, where 12,000 men were also raped or victims of attempted rape.

 

• The negative portrayal of men, boys and fathers.

 

Raising awareness of these issues is important in the ongoing fight for raising awareness and equality. Everybody should have a voice, especially those who fear that speaking out may indicate weakness (it absolutely doesn't, by the way). So from our SU to you, Happy International Men's Day!  

 

Written by Lauren Hole, Digital Marketing Assistant

 

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