While many women are cornered and become objects and victims of various kinds of violence, men can help to change this with encouragement and involvement in struggling for gender equality.

Most young men and boys have the potential to stop violence, Gender equality activist Mohammad Shahzad Khan of Pakistan told the forum Man can change - Reducing the Burden on Women and Girls and Their Vulnerabilities to HIV, at the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), in Bali on Monday.

"Not only can we choose to not perpetrate acts of violence, we can choose to challenge attitudes and assumptions that support gender-biased violence," Shazad said.

"Young people possess a unique ability to look at old problems in new ways. Our energy and idealism propel us to take risks; to look beyond obstacles; and develop innovative solutions to urgent local and international problems."

The 23-year-old Shahzad himself succeeded in helping his elder sister when he was just 12.

At that time, his 15-year-old sister faced a forcible marriage to a 50-year-old landlord, organized by his uncles and grandfather. Shahzad's father remained silent because of social and cultural norms to respect his extended family's decisions. But Shahzad went on a three-day hunger strike to make his father speak up.

"As a result *of my hunger strike*, we all left the village and migrated to Lahore, and I was thus able to save my sister's life," Shahzad said.

Shahzad recommended (among other things) support for youth-led men and boys-focused organizations to counter violence against women and girls; strengthening sexual and reproductive health services for men and boys; and improving access to information on the prevention of HIV; as well as engaging male community decision makers, including landlords, religious and political leaders, through community seminars on violence prevention and promoting sexual and reproductive health and the women's rights.

Shahzad is the executive director of Pakistan-based NGO Chanan Develoment Association (CDA), which aims to improve the status of youths and women, and works to enable them to "participate equally and actively in the creation of a healthy, just and peaceful society."

Meanwhile, Indonesian Nur Hasyim of the Rifka Annisa foundation said his organization promoted a "new masculinity" concept, which promotes male figures who respect and care for women.

"We have been running this campaign since 2007, along with our program to prevent violence against women," Nur told The Jakarta Post.

"We believe that to prevent this type of crime we must work with husbands and men who often become perpetrators of violence against women."

Source: The Jakarta Post, 13 August 2009