Perspectives on men's social services

(CS) After presenting a study on the state of men's social services in Luxembourg, equal opportunities minister Françoise Hetto-Gaasch invited professionals to share ideas on where to go from here.

At the Friday conference, one day ahead of International Men's Day, representatives from a range of social service institutions and organisations came together at the Hotel Melia to discuss the challenges posed by men's social services to society, politics and the economy.

In her opening speech Hetto-Gaasch addressed the importance of taking seriously the problems faced by men in today's society. Statistics in Germany show that men are three times as likely to commit suicide, a trend rising with age. Men are more likely to suffer from alcoholism and, while they are also known as the “violent sex,” men are frequently victims of violence.

Hetto-Gaasch continued that this “many layered and complex problem” needed to be addressed to “shake the common role perceptions of men” for men and women to live together in equality.

Germany as pioneer

Martin Rosowski from the Bundesforum Männer, a German interest group for boys, men and fathers, presented some of the work conducted by the group as food for thought for the Luxembourg social services, but also Hetto-Gaasch's ministry.

Unlike groups of masculinists who want to undermine feminism, Rosowski said he was not against something, but for the equal treatment of men and women, which includes taking a gender specific look at men as a differentiated group in society.

Education, therapy, politics

Only some of the topics addressed by the Bundesforum Männer, as outlined by Rosowski, are work life balance, prevention of violence, seeking perspectives beyond patriarchal models, making men involved as active fathers, and promoting physical and psychological health.

To achieve these manifold goals, Rosowksi sees the need to involve social education, therapy and equal opportunity politics, concluding that the equal opportunities ministry cannot operate as a separate department but needs interconnected with all other areas of politics affected by the relationship between men and women, such as employment, health and the economy.

What to do in Luxembourg?

In a round-table discussion with representatives from social service groups and politics, ways forward for Luxembourg were addressed.

With Joëlle Letsch from the Conseil National des Femmes and Christa Brömmel from the CID-Femmes, one thing was clear – while working together with men and addressing their needs is important, it cannot lead to a neglecting of women's concerns. On the other hand Brömmel conceded that, “equal opportunities cannot be achieved unless the men join in.”

One of the main concerns of the debate lay with the lack of experience in the field, as well as the lack of trained personnel. If men need designated social services, which shape should this structure take and who is to take care of men's needs, while women represent the majority of those working in care-related jobs.

For Myriam Mersch-Zimmer from the Fondation Maison de la Porte ouverte it was clear that a thorough analysis of the goals such initiatives want to achieve should be made, as well as assessing the existing structures and how to bring them into cooperation and coordination before going about creating a new foundation.

One thing was clear at the end of the three-hour conference – equal opportunities also concern men and there is a need for both men and women to be active in working towards equality for a better social coherence.