A youth advocate is helping young Victorian men challenge stereotypes and embrace healthier expressions of masculinity.
Mawout Muo is one of the faces of Respect Victoria’s ‘What Kind of Man Do You Want to Be? Campaign’, which highlights how harmful ideas of masculinity and men’s use of violence are connected.
As a child growing up in Sudan, Mawout grew up surrounded by strong female influences.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re raised by women or just by men. Masculinity is from within, being a good person, being kind,” he said.
Mawout said there’s no one way to describe what it means to be a man.
“I just say it’s an ongoing journey. Everyday is a new challenge. But work on building relationships, finding your own inner peace. That’s the real masculinity, it’s not your money. It’s not your achievements. It’s what’s within you.”
He said social media is negatively impacting how young men view themselves and that they should look for positive role models within their community instead of online.
This year’s campaign theme for Respect Victoria’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is ‘UNiTE to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls’.
Mawout said men need to stand up to violence against women and create a safe environment for them.
“A lot of men know that it’s not right but not a lot of men are speaking up about it,” he said.
“There’s things that us men of the community need to advocate more for the women, just as much as the women advocate for us.”
Mawout said fathers should teach their sons to treat women and girls with respect and to also love themselves.
“It’s time to change the narrative as being a man and that is by showing love. Love is more powerful than violence, than anger, than all these kinds of things. It’s love.”
The 16 Days against Gender-Based Violence, which is a global campaign led by UN women, runs from 25 November-10 December.
Respect Victoria is holding its annual Walk Against Family Violence as part of the campaign on Friday 28 November.
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