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Man|Made

Man|Made is a five-week psychoeducational group for postsecondary men* that provides weekly facilitated conversation and peer modelling around healthy masculinity and sexuality.

About the program

Man|Made is designed for both male peer leaders seeking to contribute to creating a world without violence, and for young men who have committed sexual violence. The program recognizes in these men the desire to grow and become agents of positive social change.

*While transgender males and gender-fluid individuals are welcome to join our session, the group content and discussion may not be reflective of their experiences.

If you would like to see this program inclusive of the 2SLGBTQ+ experience, please connect directly with HRES by emailing hres@dal.ca.

 

Man|Made is facilitated as five 90-minute sessions/modules over consecutive weeks. 

Our time together in the program will focus on facilitated dialogue and reflective activities, fostering a space of peer connection, a modelling of healthy masculinity, and a challenge to step into accountability. Core to the program is understanding intent versus impact. Having participants understand that they might not have intended to cause harm but that their actions still resulted in harm.

Man|Made is open to students from Dalhousie University and the University of King's College.

Man|Made Modules

Man|Made is divided into five modules. Each module includes the evidence-base for the particular module issue, lays out the learning outcomes and approaches, and provides the pedagogical prompts and PowerPoints/handouts. A pre- and post-program evaluation is also included.

1. Masculinity

Learning outcomes:
  • Understand toxic masculinity (linked to intent versus impact of harm).
  • Understand the difference between coercion and convincing. 
  • Express vulnerability as an alternative to toxic masculinity.

2. Consent

Learning outcomes:
  • Understand the legal definition of consent and sexual violence.
  • Recognize the difference between intent to harm and impact of harm.
  • Develop practical skills for negotiating consent.

3. Porn

Learning outcomes:
  • Develop tools for healthy expression of male sexuality. 
  • Recognize the difference in mainstream and alternate forms of pornography. 
  • Create new norms around healthy men's sexuality.

4. Accountability

Learning outcomes:
  • Understand and recognize ways to effectively use bystander intervention techniques (direct, distract, delegate). 
  • Recognize the shift from "I don't want to cause harm or sexual violence problems" to "I can be part of the solution to end sexual violence."
  • Explore what accountability entails and what makes for a good apology. 

5. Bystander intervention

Learning outcomes:
  • Understand and recognize ways to effectively use bystander intervention techniques (direct, distract, delegate). 
  • Recognize the shift from "I don't want to cause harm or sexual violence problems" to "I can be part of the solution to end sexual violence."
"It was great, empathetic space was always present, and it helped me." 

Join the program

Man|Made will run over 5 consecutive weeks: Tuesdays at 4pm, beginning Feb. 7th! (Excludes reading week). Food is provided.

Sexual violence is a spectrum that impacts individuals differently. Being able to differentiate between intent and impact can help us to have nuanced conversations with perpetrators of harm that hold the complexities between different people’s experiences of the same event. It can genuinely be one person’s truth that they did not mean to harm anyone, and they did not experience the event as harmful, while another person came out of the same event having experienced harm.

When we can differentiate between intent and impact, we can centre the harm caused without othering the person who caused that harm. Holding multiple truths is an important skill in being able to think both critically and compassionately about sexual violence and the aftermath of harm.

 
Man|Made was created in 2015 by Anova to provide programming to men at local postsecondary institutions who had committed sexual violence. The program has since grown to support both mandated men and male student leaders at postsecondary campuses locally and across the country.

Email HRES@dal.ca to join the Man|Made group