Engaging Men & Boys as IPV Prevention Allies: Lessons Learned from DELTA FOCUS

The DELTA FOCUS (Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances, Focusing on Outcomes for Communities United with States) program supported domestic violence coalitions to identify, implement, and evaluate programs that are theoretically or empirically linked to reducing IPV, or decreasing risk factors or increasing protective factors for Intimate Partner Violence (IPV).

DELTA FOCUS grantees worked to prevent IPV at the national, state and local levels by implementing strategies to change the environments and conditions in which people live, work and play. To do this, grantees addressed economic and social policies, processes, and norms that shape the lives of individuals and communities. This involved implementing strategies that impact issues such as education, employment, reducing gender bias, and more.

The coalitions learned important lessons along their journey. Some lessons are specific to one type of approach while some are more broadly applicable for implementing and evaluating community-based approaches. The goal of sharing these stories is for others in the violence prevention field to benefit from this collective learning. This includes learning more about existing field-based programs and practices, discovering what worked or did not work in implementation, and considering how to approach evaluation or develop a more rigorous evaluation than was possible for the DELTA FOCUS domestic violence coalitions. 

DELTA FOCUS stories each feature 1) a story summary, 2) a full printable story, 3) key lessons learned and highlighted strategies, 4) tools for adaptation, 5) highlighted projects, and 6) related resources from DELTA FOCUS grantees.

This story features lessons learned from three coalitions in Alaska, Ohio, and Rhode Island that implemented approaches to engage men and boys in IPV prevention: Alaska Men Choose Respect, Ohio Men’s Action Network (OHMAN), and Ten Men. The three coalitions’ approaches provide men a clear point of entry in the movement, an opportunity to establish a personal commitment to IPV prevention and concrete activities to help prevent IPV in their lives and communities. Their approaches focus on media messaging, social norms campaigns, networking/coalition work, peer support, mentorship, and skill building around leveraging community influence to impact change. Their experiences highlight the value of taking a learning approach in an area where there is limited information on potential barriers and facilitators to implementation.