Harmful online messages about masculinity must be countered, violence expert says

Article here. Excerpt:

'Some boys and young men are being exposed to harmful messages about women and what it means to be a man — narratives that have to be countered before they lead to misogyny and intimate partner violence, the head of a London agency says.

Changing Ways, a non-profit that works with men who have been charged with domestic violence, as well as those trying to find non-abusive ways to resolve conflict, has just received $97,000 from the United Way to create programs that target men and boys.

"When I'm talking with teachers and with youth-based agencies, I'm hearing a really scary trend," said Tim Smuck, the agency's executive director. "A lot of our young boys, in the 12 to 17 age range, are really being influenced by this men's rights type of information that they're getting from social media. We want to work to create more male leadership, more positive, healthy, male role models. We want to have a larger conversation about what it actually means to be a healthy, positive man in 2023."

Changing Ways also has programs for women who are perpetrators of domestic violence, but men account for nine out of 10 clients the agency services.'