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Description
This project is aimed at combating gender stereotypes and discrimination against women on the labour market and building more effective women’s economic empowerment. Based on the opinion surveys carried out, men make a huge impact on the formation of gender stereotypes in society.
The majority of projects relating to gender equality engage women and are intended for women. We believe that gender equality will be ensured only when this theme will be equally important for both sexes.
Our objective is to encourage men to become advocates for gender equality, to promote active discussions on the well-established gender stereotypes in society and to break them. The Barbershop methodology is new in Lithuania but has already been tested by the Islandic partners and provides clear guidelines and tools for men who want to become agents of change for gender equality. By implementing this Project, we will mobilize men who support the idea of equality, provide them with the tools to implement gender equality projects and publicize the benefit and the necessity of men’s engagement. Our target groups are these: 1) men – opinion leaders, with a higher educational background and higher income; 2) young men; 3) the public – which will be reached through the publicity measures.
This Project is aimed at training professional moderators–facilitators who will take over the Barbershop methodology and will independently implement and further develop it in Lithuania, and this will encourage men to become gender equality champions in their workplaces, organisations and communities.
Summary of project results
Based on the opinion surveys, men make a huge impact on the formation of gender stereotypes in society: they tend to believe more often than women that they must advance their career and earn more than women, also as many as 30 % of men and 14 % of women think that a man’s opinion is more important than a woman’s. Men still tend to assign the functions of child care and household chores to women. Women (83 %) want that women and men would have equal rights” more often than men (75 %). The majority of projects relating to gender equality engage women and are intended for women, leaving men outside the gender stereotype discussion. The project aimed at addressing gender stereotypes and women''s discrimination int he labour market as well as empower women economically.
The project encouraged men to talk about gender stereotypes in order to achieve a positive change in young men''s attitudes towards gender equality in Lithuania. Contacts were established with a donor country organization - UN Women Iceland and their ''Barbershop'' methodology was introduced in Lithuania, which provided discussion tools for men who
seek to become champions for gender equality. 36 moderators were trained, the methodology was translated into Lithuanian and adapted to Lithuanian context, 10 discussions were organized, and both the Barbershop ToolBox method and men''s approach towards equal opportunities was actively advertised.
The project trained 36 moderators-facilitators on the Icelandic "Barbershop" methodology on gender stereotypes and enabled the moderators to practice the method. 10 partnerships were established with regional partners in Lithuania on gender equality. 500 men who have tried the Barbershop methodology at events and were introduced to the benefits of gender equality. The project surveys showed 5.2% increase in young men expressing positive attitudes towards gender equality
Summary of bilateral results
The bilateral partner of the project - UN Women Iceland - successfully transferred their knowledge of the "Barbershop" method on gender equality to project employees and volunteers during online meetings and emails. They conducted a training for future moderators of the "Barbershop" workshops in Lithuania and participated and presented in the opening event of the project.