Sara Niner

Baseline Study: 2013 Research Study—Young Gender Equitable Men?

In 2013 Dr Niner undertook a Baseline Study into gender perceptions and masculinity with young men in Timor-Leste
Research Study by Monash University staff and UNTL (National Uni Timor-Leste) staff

• survey of 500 young men using GEM Scale in rural and urban TL informed by focus groups and qualitative interviews
• how young East Timorese men think about the roles of men and women in contemporary Timorese society and what they expect in their intimate or spousal relationships.
• Informants described significant changes to gender roles and relationships in the emerging nation and continuing pressure for further change.
• More gender equitable principles are promoted by the local women’s movement and international agencies and have been introduced into the new nation’s government policies.
• While broadly accepted publicly these new values are often superficially held and families and communities find it difficult to implement these new concepts at the household and community level. Many local people interviewed presented the new values as foreign to local culture and as a result of ‘globalisation’.

Key Findings of 2013 Survey

1. new ideas about gender equality introduced nationally—most young men accepted general statements about gender equity;
2. Given specific details: young men still expect power and control over women within their families;
3. Declining gender equitable attitudes with age, education, environment;“ Young men’s perceptions of gender relations and gendered violence in Timor-Leste”
4. The dominant form of masculinity that was expressed was tough, aggressive, virile and heterosexual.
5. Great variation and confusion about level of physical abuse tolerated but generally acceptance of physical abuse toward women if they do no fulfil traditional roles;
6. Persistent blaming of women for the violence perpetrated against them by men;

Recommendations: culturally appropriate programs which clearly define domestic and other violence against women and positively influence men’s attitudes to gender equality and intimate partner relations in schools and other arenas as a priority.
For more information please see full report.

Masculinity and links to gender inequality and violence in Timor-Leste & Indonesia (2014) (Monash Asia Institute Seminar Series jointly organized with the Anthropology Program, School of Social Sciences)

Internationally, it has been shown that there is a strong link between various gender related norms, including notions of masculinity in a society, and gendered violence. Understanding this is key to programs of prevention. A panel of academics and practitioners will explore cultural elements of gender and masculinity that contribute to violence. These ideas and concepts will be explored particularly in relation to the work of men in prevention programs such as the Asosiasaun Mane Kontra Violensia (AMKV) or Association for Men Against Violence in Timor and the Gerakan Laki-Laki Baru (LLB) or New Men’s Movement in Indonesia
Click here to listen to the audio of the Seminar or go to https://soundcloud.com/sniner/masculinity-and-links-to-gender-inequality-and-violence-in-timor-leste-and-indonesia
Photo:  Monash Asia Institute-Anthropology Public Seminar (Oct 2014) Right to Left: Visiting-Scholar Mario Araujo, Mira Fonseca, Dr. Sara Niner, Rachmad Hidayat, Sri Wiyanti Eddyono
Panel includes:
Marito de Araujo, Visiting Academic, Timor-Leste: Marito is a founding member of the CSO ‘Association for Men Against Violence in Timor-Leste’, and is a long-term social activist. He has worked for Oxfam CAA Australia as an advocacy officer and programme co-ordinator. He currently teaches at the Universidade da Paz (UNPAZ) in Timor and also works as a gender consultant to government and international and local organisations.
 Sri Wiyanti Eddyono (Iyik), PhD candidate, Monash University. Iyik’s research is on women’s empowerment in poor, urban communities in Indonesia. She is also coordinator of the Indonesia research team of the UNRISD project: “When and Why do States Respond to Women’s Claims: Understanding Gender-Egalitarian Policy Change in Asia, a comparative study on India, Indonesia, and China”.
Rachmad Hidayat, PhD candidate, Monash University. Rachmad’s current research focusses on Muslim masculinities in Australia. His Master thesis was titled “Islam, Masculinity and Domestic Violence in Java”. Rachmad is a member and volunteer of Gerakan Laki-Laki Baru (LLB), a national movement in Indonesia addressing masculinities and domestic violence.
Panel Convenor:
Dr. Sara Niner is an interdisciplinary researcher and lecturer in Anthropology at Monash. She has undertaken research with young men in Timor-Leste about their attitudes to gender roles, relationships and violence, which informed a gender-based violence prevention campaign. This seminar continues this research in the field of masculinity in the post-conflict environment of Timor-Leste.

SEMINAR “Masculinities in Indonesia and East Timor” (2017)

Presenters
Hani Yulindrasari (The University of Melbourne)
Noor Huda Ismail (Monash University)
Benjamin Hegarty (The Australian National University)
Dr Sara Niner (Monash University)

Professor Ariel Heryanto (Monash University)  discusses masculinity with members of a new generation of scholars who are completing separate research projects on the topic: Hani Yulindrasari (The University of Melbourne), Noor Huda Ismail (Monash University), Benjamin Hegarty (The Australian National University), and Sara Niner (Monash University). Julian Millie (Monash University) will offer concluding comments.

More information on speakers HERE

Watch recording of Seminar HERE