In Their Own Words: The Formulation of Sexual and Health-related Behaviour among Young Men in Bangladesh

This study, conducted in Bangladesh as a joint project of Naz Foundation International, Bandhu Social Welfare Society, and The CATALYST Consortium, focuses on the developing attitudes, values, and behaviours of boys regarding women and girls, sex and manhood, and violence and homophobia, possibly resulting, according to the document, from adolescents exaggerating "masculinity." However - and also part of the document's premise - in these formative years, young men are also receptive to "more equitable concepts of masculinity and to new and more informed perspectives regarding their roles and responsibilities in reproductive health and intimate relationships."

The lens for this study is “social and sexual scripting," organising and linking together what people think, what they do, and how they are affected by the sociocultural context in which they live through accumulated responses to a multiplicity of socio-cultural cues. The study's objectives include exploring adolescent males' self- and gender-awareness and understanding, friendship and intimacy, sexual knowledge and awareness, sexual messages, sociocultural and family expectations, sources of knowledge, and impact of knowledge on their behaviour.

The document describes methodology: communications-related methods include Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) techniques of role play, free-listing and ranking, Venn diagrams, and body mapping; discussions; and interviewing of groups. These groups include young men by age category - also including sub-categories of men who have sex with men (MSM) networks and the general population of males (GPM); parents; socialising agents including community leaders, traditional health care practitioners and purveyors of traditional medicine (kobirajs), and religious leaders (mullahs); and small sub-samples of men of different-gendered identities and marital statuses.

The research concludes that, for young men, channels for exchange of information on sexual and reproductive health, physical affection, and romantic love are highly restricted, producing psychological distress, a range of myths, and lack of sexual outlets. Among the recommendations are a number related to communications, including:

• a need for sensitising counsellors and providing counselling for feminised males and MSM;
• a need to sensitise women to the range of gendered masculine identities and its relationship to their own sexual health;
• peer education networks for different socio-economic and age groups established to fill a need for counselling of young men on gender inequities, harassment, and violence;
• age-specific education and information packages of life skills training developed for youth within the broader context of specific vocational skills that will promote employment in later life, and information packages for social agents including parents so that they have accurate information and are sensitised to societal sources of gender disparities and inequities;
• technical and financial support for a toll-free telephone help-line service offering anonymous and confidential advice and information managed by trained adolescent counsellors and volunteer staff;
• information for stakeholders from government and commercial sectors and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to assure better understanding of the impact of masculinities; and
• connecting clinical services with other community-based adolescent programmes (e.g., programmes for street children) to address the emotional and physical needs of adolescent males.

This summary report includes:

• Introductory Glossary, tables, organisation structures...
• Chapter 1: HIV/AIDS/[Sexually Transmitted Infection] STI Prevention
• Chapter 2: Purpose and Objectives of the Study, Sample Characteristics, and Methodology
• Chapter 3: Self and Gender Awareness and Understanding
• Chapter 4: Friendship and Intimacy
• Chapter 5: Sexual Knowledge and Sexual Messages
• Chapter 7: Sociocultural and Family Expectations
• Chapter 8: Other Socialising Agents
• Chapter 9: Sources and Impact of Knowledge
• Chapter 10: Summary of Key Findings and Recommendations

A companion document, A Guide for Conducting Research on the Formulation of Sexual and Health-Related Behaviour among Young Men, available in PDF format, explains in detail how to conduct this research.