Round Table Conference: Men and Women in a Vicious Circle of Violence

Brief Description

In 2017, a round table entitled ‘Men and Women in a Vicious Circle of Violence’ was organised. With this event, the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities continued the series of discussions on men and gender equality, which began two years ago with an international conference entitled ‘Gender Equality – What Do Men Have to Do with It?’ The round table was intended for policymakers, employees in education and science, students, non-governmental organisations, social workers, media and everyone who deals with the problem of violence in their work. It addressed complex issues which are usually not at the forefront of the debates on violence against women and domestic violence: the perceptions of manhood and violence in society, understanding consent for sexual intercourse, domestic violence and abuse against men, implementation of programmes for perpetrators of violence and preventive programmes for boys, media images of violence and roles and participation of men in campaigns aimed at preventing violence against women. The discussion also raised a series of questions, such as: what are the 9 reasons of violent behaviour in general and particularly violence against women, what perpetuates violence and leads to the worst forms (femicide), what can be done to efficiently prevent and eliminate violence and what is the respective role of the state, media and non-governmental and other organisations, as well as individuals.