The public debate about gender (in)equalities is often offensive, emotional, and shrouded in myth, even at the highest official levels. Toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes harm men as well as women and the whole society. The overarching goal is to raise awareness about toxic masculinity and to start an intersocietal dialogue among relevant stakeholders and the public.

Czech Republic (Prague) and online (on social media such as Facebook and Instagram).

Despite continuous efforts of different stakeholders (mainly non-state actors), the Czech Republic is still very far from gender equality. The gender gap is present in most of public and private spheres. In the latest Gender Equality Index (2017), the Czech Republic achieved a score of 53.6 out of 100, which matches its 2005 score. The scores in all domains are below the EU average. It is worrying that the lowest score was in the domain of power, which has regressed due to deteriorating gender equality in the economic sphere. Gender (in)equalities are widely considered “women’s” issues and men have been left out. Yet, good practice from abroad proves that addressing toxic masculinity and engaging men and boys in talks about gender is the key component to lasting behavioural change.

The direct target group will be the professional public in the Czech Republic, practitioners from the non-profit as well as the private and public sector will be invited to discuss the topics of toxic masculinity in a roundtable. The immediate output of the roundtable should be a brief advocacy paper summarizing toxic masculinity in the Czech context. Engaged stakeholders can further use this paper to strengthen their activities in the field. The final beneficiaries will be the public (primarily younger audience, <35 years) that will be engaged through a social media campaign around this topic and an opinion poll. Given the world-wide COVID-19 related situation, the social and online media will play a key role in the public engagement in the dialogue.

The overarching goal is to raise awareness about toxic masculinity and to start the absent dialogue among relevant stakeholders and the public itself in the Czech Republic. To attain the above objective, relevant stakeholders and experts need to be brought together. This signifies the initial stage; whereby different stakeholders can discuss toxic masculinity in the specific Czech context and become more aware of the good practices and different experiences. Therefore, a two-day roundtable meeting in Prague, as an initial catalytic activity. The meeting will bring together representatives of the non-profit sector (i.e. feminist groups, pedagogists, youth groups/initiatives), public institutions, representatives from abroad the Western Balkans. Strong partnerships and cooperation are at the core of the proposal. The roundtable will be prepared in collaboration with the participants. CARE will engage the Czech public through the social media campaign. The campaign will be another key component to raise awareness about the impact of toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes. CARE has a vast experience in this field and is currently preparing another online campaign focused on gender equality to be launched in the Czech Republic in autumn 2021.

Initiated dialogue among stakeholders from different sectors and the general Czech public.
Selected stakeholders more engaged in dialogues and related advocacy efforts.
Raised awareness about toxic masculinity in the Czech context.
Advocacy paper produced and circulated among key stakeholders.

The idea builds a basis for strengthened advocacy for gender equality and stimulates dialogue about toxic masculinity and its impact on the society. The opinion poll and the advocacy paper are important tools to achieve these goals. The public, including people who are not actively involved in such debates, should gain more knowledge and be able to address this topic in their day-to-day interactions. The active citizenship is fostered by discussions among stakeholders and the online community – active users of social media. Social media have become a powerful tool to address and involve especially the youth in public discussions. The proposed social media campaign directly responds to the societal changes during the pandemic: Moving social interaction to the virtual space.

CARE Czech Republic, as a member of the global network of CARE International, is a gender-oriented non-state and non-profit humanitarian organization. Gender equality is at the heart of all our interventions. Although the focus is on women and girls, we know very well that men and boys must be engaged in order to achieve our mission: A socially just and equal world. As CARE Czech Republic fights gender inequalities and its root causes through diverse programs abroad, we see it as equally important as to contribute to a more equitable society here in the Czech Republic. Therefore, we want to enable transfer of good practice within and beyond borders and allow stakeholders from different sectors to learn from each other.

Opinion poll: 1.500 EUR
Roundtable (2 days) for 30 participants – event costs in Prague: 3.500 EUR
Roundtable facilitation fee + advocacy paper: 800 EUR
Travel expenses for 2 persons from BiH (flights, accommodation per-diems, travel insurance): 3.000 EUR
Social media campaign (PR materials, graphic design, social media posts): 3.500 EUR
Miscellaneous costs: 2.000 EUR
Project coordination and financial management: 2.000 EUR

We believe that opinion polls can be very powerful advocacy tools. We would appreciate support in the preparation and promotion of the poll results and best practices. We would like to share effective strategies for strengthening dialogue with opponents/people not interested?