Historic coalition of over 50 leading men’s issues advocates launches ahead of International Men’s Day

Over 50 of the UK’s leading charities, academics, journalists and campaigners have come together to form the UK’s largest ever coalition to tackle gender-specific issues affecting men and boys.

The Men and Boys Coalition brings together organisations and individuals specialising in fields ranging from mental health and suicide prevention to education and parenting and will be launched in Parliament today [Tuesday 15th November] ahead of International Men’s Day on 19th November 2016.

The Coalition aims to collectively ensure that issues affecting men and boys are fully recognised and tackled by Government, the statutory sector and society in general.

The many nationally-recognised and award-winning campaigns that have agreed to participate in the Coalition include The Campaign Against Living Miserably [CALM]; Britain’s leading charity for male victims of domestic abuse, the Mankind Initiative; and organisations working with men and boys affected by sexual violence, such as Survivors Manchester.

Although bringing diverse expertise and coming from across the political spectrum, all members are committed to developing constructive, progressive, coherent and gender-inclusive solutions to male-specific issues. The Men and Boys Coalition will bring these voices together under a single lobbying and campaigning umbrella, believed to be the first coalition of its type anywhere in the world.

Mark Brooks, Chair of the ManKind Initiative (domestic abuse charity), said:

“Over recent years, we have seen many examples of cooperation from a wide range of voices and charities all concerned that not enough is being done to support men and boys in tackling issues they face in their lives. This joint working includes challenging statutory bodies to provide services, campaigning for funding and representing the needs of men and boys in the political arena. It is welcome and long overdue that this new coalition has been formed which will represent us all and make all of us stronger – for the good of men and boys, and of course, the women and girls they share their lives with.”

Jane Powell, CEO of the Campaign Against Living Miserably, said:

“As a society we need to look at the needs of men and boys across all of our services, as we have done, for girls and women, and rightly so. We see boys failing significantly more than girls in education, significantly more men in prison than women, and far more men taking their lives than women. Inequality in any guise is unacceptable; this is a coalition which is long overdue.”

Duncan Craig, CEO of Survivors Manchester, said:

“The Men and Boys Coalition is important to the growth of an area that has been vastly under resourced and neglected – the health and wellbeing of men and boys. The coalition provides us with an opportunity to address inequalities, network and join forces and build new relationships that will inevitably result in better provision across the UK for men and boys.”

John Adams, stay-at-home-father and leading dad blogger, said:

“Women face a lot of issues that need addressing and men have a role to play in making society better for women and girls. There has, however, been a definite change. Slowly but surely, society is waking up to the fact men also face significant challenges: poor mental health provision, a depressingly high suicide rate, ever poorer educational attainment. I am delighted to do my small part to help men meet these challenges and help create a better society for all.”

The conditions of membership for the new coalition include an agreement that progress for men and boys should never come at the expense of the interests and wellbeing of women and girls. The Coalition’s gender-inclusive approach asserts that solutions to male-specific issues should complement campaigns on women’s issues, rather than oppose them. The Coalition will not accept or work with organisations or individuals who express misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism or any other form of bigotry or discrimination.

The co-founders of the Coalition are: Dan Bell, Features Editor, insideMAN magazine; Mark Brooks, equalities campaigner and chair of the ManKind Initiative; Martin Daubney, journalist and broadcaster; Ally Fogg, writer and journalist; Dr Ben Hine, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of West London and Glen Poole, UK Coordinator of International Men’s Day.

For further inquiries contact Mark Brooks on 07834 452357 or Dan Bell on 07747 463255

Email: info@www.menandboyscoalition.org.uk

ENDS

Notes to Editors

(1) The Coalition will be officially launched in Committee Room 11, Houses of Parliament at 3pm on Tuesday 15 November 2016

(2) The Coalition’s key public platform will be our website:

www.menandboyscoalition.org.uk

@MBCoalition

(3) Members of the Coalition share the aims of:

Highlighting and tackling issues where the needs of men and boys are unmet

Highlighting and tackling the circumstances where the victims of unfair discrimination are men and boys

Helping create positive and constructive public discussion about men, manhood and masculinity

The Coalition will act as a vehicle to promote a year-round focus on these broad aims and will tackle these particular concerns of the Coalition’s members (in no particular order):

The high male suicide rate

The challenges faced by boys and men at all stages of education including attainment

Men’s health, shorter life expectancy and workplace deaths

The challenges faced by the most marginalised men and boys in society (for instance, homeless men, boys in care and the high rate of male deaths in custody)

Male victims of violence, including sexual violence

The 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, honour-based crime, stalking and slavery

The negative portrayal of men, boys and fathers

The members of the Coalition are:

Organisations

All Boys Rock Baggy Trousers UK A Band of Brothers BLAST Project Blue Ribbon Foundation Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) com Families Need Fathers BPM, Cymru insideMAN magazine International Men’s Day UK Mankind Counselling ManKind Initiative Men and Boys Initiative (NI) Men Get Eating Disorders Too (MGEDT) Men Tell Health Mengage MSH Health and Wellbeing CIC MenSpeak Men’s Groups Rocking Ur Teens Survivors Manchester Survivors UK Survivors West Yorkshire Working With Men

Individuals