The Effects of Socialization on Gender Discrimination and Violence: A Case Study From Lebanon

Oxfam GB commissioned the pilot study discussed in this report in order to understand further the context that shapes men’s gender roles and affects their behaviours, practices, and attitudes towards gender equality, with an explicit focus on VAW. The design of the study was based on the following research questions: whether culture plays a role in shaping men’s gendered roles; how gender power and masculinity create authority over women, and therefore whether men would consent to yield authority to women; how men can be victims of violence themselves; how men feel about VAW, and how they see change happening.
The pilot study was undertaken with the hope that Oxfam GB, with its partner KAFA (Enough) Violence and Exploitation Against Women and Children and other interested women’s organisations, would be able to use the findings and recommendations of this study to re-shape and re-create new dimensions of programmatic interventions to address VAW. It will also help these organisations to promote the inclusion of innovative ways of working with men and boys in different parts of the region. The fieldwork for this study was carried out in Baalbek, Lebanon because it is considered one of the largest provinces in Lebanon and among those with the poorest populations.