The Campus Hero Café: Engaging Young Men and Boys in the Promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and the Prevention of Violence in Bangladesh

Summary of results (from the final report)

This project explored the linkages between traditional, harmful norms of masculinity, the stigma around sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the perpetration of violence against women and girls in three districts in Bangladesh. Due to harmful, learned messages about what it means to be a man and the societal taboo on sexuality, young men and boys in Bangladesh do not openly seek information about sexual and reproductive health and rights. Instead, many learn sexual behaviors and attitudes through watching pornography, which is increasingly widespread with the increased access to mobile phones and internet throughout the country. Pornography teaches men and boys harmful attitudes and behaviors around their own sexual health and normalizes violence against women and girls. This project responded to these findings with a three-tiered action approach: