Step by Step: Navigating Boyhood in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author: 

Deboleena Rakshit

Gary Barker

Taveeshi Prasad Gupta

Giovanna Lauro

Publication Date

“…the very young adolescent age group of around 8-13 years is a critical time in the lives of young boys and girls forming their notions of gender roles and identities that is often missing in the literature and not a strong focus in programming.”

This report explores the lived realities of boys aged 8-13 in sub-Saharan Africa. Published by Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice, it includes findings from a rapid literature review and from an online survey and in-depth interviews with researchers and practitioners in sub-Saharan Africa to outline some of the key issues boys face in the region. It looks at the challenges and expectations they face, how masculinities are determined, and the strengths and gaps in current programming and research that focuses on young boys.

As explained in the introduction of the report, current research and programming on gender and masculinities often lack a specific focus on boys aged 8-13, with more emphasis placed on older adolescents and young men. In addition, younger adolescent boys are generally still an under-discussed topic. “The hopes, ambitions, and dreams of boys of ages 8 to 13; how they form and internalize masculine ideals, roles, and behaviors; as well as the structural challenges and everyday fears, trials, and tribulations young boys face can sometimes be missing from narratives on masculinities. By the time they become teenagers, most children have already started to internalize messages from society on what girls and boys, men and women are supposed to be. To meaningfully question and subvert gender stereotypes, the process of critical reflection needs to start early.”

To explore the gender socialisation of younger boys, the research looked at the landscape of challenges and expectations that boys face as they grow older across sub-Saharan Africa, which are discussed in the first section of the report. Using insights from the literature review, interviews, and the survey, it describes the various factors that contribute to boys’ growing disengagement from education, including unwelcoming school environments, economic pressures to work and earn income, and the prevalence of corporal punishment. Even outside of schools, boys are at risk of experiencing gendered patterns of violence – whether in their homes or in the broader community and in public spaces. As stated in the report, young adolescence can already be a complex and confusing age for children to navigate, and, for many boys in sub-Saharan Africa, these contextual realities make them especially vulnerable to harm and neglect.

In addition to the landscape of specific challenges that boys face, boys encounter highly gendered normative expectations they are supposed to meet as they grow older. The report looks at some common features of masculinities in the region, including some insights on where or from whom boys are learning about gender and masculinity. The most significant sources in the region emerged as families in general, including fathers (biological or surrogate), schools, religious institutions, traditional and social media, non-governmental organisations, and cultural practices. The report also offers a deeper dive into how masculinities are formed in particularly precarious contexts, such as in informal urban settlements, where the reality of needing to provide for basic necessities like food and shelter on a daily basis can reinforce the need for boys to be strong and self-reliant. In addition, the report looks at how boys and girls of this age are initiating romantic relationships while navigating norms around intimate relationships that are held by their peers and families.

Finally, the report explores how the sometimes-heavy burden of expectations from society on boys is affecting their own expectations and dreams for the future. It delves into boys’ own hopes, aspirations, and dreams for themselves as described by researchers and practitioners who work with them (the report points out that future studies on boyhood in the region would ideally also reflect the voices of young boys themselves). There is also a discussion on promising approaches to working with boys that help them prepare for the world they are entering. They include, for example, the MENtorship in South Africa, the She Leads programme in Kenya, and the Growing up GREAT! intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The report also looks at what is missing in programming that focuses on boys, with most respondents saying that “programmes do not engage boys’ caregivers”.

Based on the findings, the report offers a number of key takeaways and implications for future formative research and programme design in the region. Overall, it emphasises that a holistic approach to advancing gender equality must include both girls and boys, engaging boys as allies to achieve gender equality and as supporters of girls’ agency and women’s empowerment, as well as the importance of addressing the specific health and social development needs of boys themselves. The following are some specific insights and recommendations:

• There is a need to learn how to engage younger boys and very young adolescents in research and programming on positive sexual and reproductive health attitudes and behaviours using age-appropriate and contextually relevant methods.
• Behaviour change strategies should be informed by an understanding of the various influencers who serve as positive role models of masculinities for young boys, and how best to have these individuals use their influence to model equitable gender attitudes and behaviours.
• The rights of children with diverse sexual orientation and gender identities (SOGI) and LGBTQIA+ rights and issues in general are not covered in most programming and policy. There is an urgent need to develop SOGI-inclusive content that is sensitive to a context where laws and practices still stigmatise LGBTQIA+ people but that also pushes forward the goal of inclusion and equity for SOGI-diverse children.
• There is a need for using a strengths-based, positive approach in framing gender and masculinity programmes and policies. Boys should not be described or viewed only as a source of trouble and problems but, rather, as having the potential to contribute positively to their relationships and communities and their own wellbeing.
• Both gender-transformative and gender-synchronised approaches in programming and policy are key to avoid pitting girls and boys against each other or viewing gender equality as a zero-sum game. The same structural barriers and inequitable gender norms negatively impact the lives of girls, boys, and children of all gender identities and keep them from achieving their fullest potential. Reducing these barriers helps progress the rights of all children.
• Making school environments more welcoming to boys and girls – including by addressing the prevalence of corporal punishment, bullying, risks of child labour, and other forms of abuse –  are key to stemming the growing disengagement of boys from education across the region.
• Including young boys in the designing and decision-making of programmes and policy that affect their lives is crucial. Boys’ own aspirations, goals, and voices need to be included in any efforts to engage them – both to protect and further children’s right to expression and to be effective in working with boys.
• An intersectional lens in all research, programming, and policy initiatives is also key as the issues that face young boys in different contexts across the region are very different: masculinities in urban informal settlements can look very different from those in rural contexts; the lives of boys impacted by poverty differ greatly from those who are economically secure. Considering age, race and ethnicity, economic security, sexuality and diverse SOGI, urban or rural locations, and disability status, is important in any programme or policy design to reach the right audience.

Click here for an 8-page Executive Summary in French in PDF format.

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