Black men's experiences regarding women's and children's rights : a social work perspective

Abstract

The promotion of women's and children's rights excluded men from the process. The implementation of these rights called for a shift in domestic power relations. Men, especially certain black men, were plunged in predicament as some felt that the changes undermined their cultural and traditional masculine identities and that women and children abused their rights. In many cases the relationships between men, women and children came under pressure. This research is conducted among black men. The aim is to explore and describe black men's experience of their relationship with women and children in the context of women's and children's rights. An empirical study using a qualitative approach was followed to promote understanding of black men's experiences. In-depth interviews and personal notes/letters were used to collect data. The gist of the findings is that these changes are not important to women and children only, but to men too. The findings produced the following six main categories: Black men view women's and children's rights as good if correctly used; black men experience that women and children abuse their rights; black men feel that children do not honour them as they put their own rights above their father's rights; black men feel marginalised and use fight, flight or passiveness as coping strategies; black men experience women's and children's rights as a major cause of family disorganisation; black men suggest that there should be a platform for men and women to talk about their differences and types of power. Guidelines for appropriate service delivery programmes for families are developed from the findings.