Mental health of men, boys must get attention

Speakers at a webinar yesterday said in order to prevent violence against women and girl children, the issue of mental health of men and boys must be given due attention.

The webinar, titled "Mental Health of Men and Boys: What we should do", was organised by National Girl Child Advocacy Forum, and supported by Educo Bangladesh, as part of its "16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence" campaign.

"We give some wrong message to our children from their childhood," said Psychotherapist Prof Shanjida Shahria at the programme, for example, boys shouldn't cry or be afraid of anything.

"But the basic human emotions are joy, sorrow, fear and anger. If they are refrained from showing their fears and sorrows, they are only having two emotions, joy and anger. When they are angry, they express it with anger, even if they are sad or afraid, they will express it through anger. These make men violent from their childhood," she explained.

Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, global vice president and country director of The Hunger Project Bangladesh, said the National Girl Child and Advocacy Forum was formed to create equal opportunities for girls and end inequality. "The vast majority of men who abuse women suffer from a variety of mental health problems. We usually discuss women's issues widely, but the mental health issues of men are not discussed equally," he said.

Human rights activist Sheepa Hafiza also expressed a similar concern, saying men are kept out of the loop while discussing gender-based violence.

"We have to bring reforms in our education system. The mentality of men and women working together has to be developed at an early age," she said.

Lawmaker Shamsul Haque Tuku, president of Parliamentary Caucus on Child Rights, also focused on the traditional gender roles, which children learn from their family.

"We have to think about the family, and teach them to equally treat children of all genders," he said.

Md Fazle Rabbi Miah, deputy speaker of the parliament and chief guest of the event, said a proposal on the summary of the discussion should be presented as a private bill in parliament, through the president of the Caucus on Child Rights. 

"The proposal can also be presented to parliament through our Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs," he said.

Notable psychiatrist Dr Mehtab Khanam moderated the event. She said, "We focus more on remedies, but not on prevention. This is applicable for mental health issue too."

"We don't want to talk about mental health problems at all until the situation gets worse. And compared to women, men are very reluctant in sharing their problems," she said.

Lawmaker Aroma Dutta, vice president of Parliamentary Caucus on Child Rights; Wahida Banu, executive director of Aporajeyo Bangladesh; Prof Taslima Yasmin, associate professor of law at Dhaka University; lawmaker Adiba Anjum Mita; and gender specialist Nishat Sultana, among others, spoke at the discussion.