The Young Men’s Camp

The Young Men’s Camp is a core project under the Program on Education, Training and Organizational Development of CATW-AP. This preventive education project aims to change the sexual attitudes and practices of boys and young men that contribute to trafficking for sexual exploitation. Its specific objectives are:[i]

  • To change the attitude and behavior of men who purchase or who are potential buyers of women in commercial sexual exploitation;
  • To address gender roles and the male construction of sexuality that facilitates the male demand for prostitution and that promotes trafficking;
  • To target young men at risk for buying women and girls in commercial sex venues;
  • To educate men about the harm of trafficking and prostitution to the women involved, to families, to society and to themselves;
  • To educate young women who are also bombarded by media messages promoting the sexualization of women.

The Young Men’s Camp project is not only a preventive but also a transformative strategy as it focuses on changing sexual attitude and behavior. Each camp is designed as a three-day activity to be conducted six times within the 2004-2006 period. The expected results of the project are:

  • to educate young men in 12 regions about trafficking and sexual exploitation; and
  • to raise young men’s awareness of the harm of prostitution and trafficking and the impact of male sexual attitude and practices in the abuse of women.

On the other hand, the expected outcomes of the camps are action points that would enable young men to be part of the solution in redefining male sexuality and combat sexual exploitation of women.

1.Organizing preventive education to address the demand side of prostitution and trafficking and creating impact on the personal lives of young men.

On the basis of its position that trafficking and prostitution is a demand and supply scheme that capitalizes on the vulnerability of women, CATW-AP developed the Young Men’s Camp project to particularly focuses on the micro level – the individuals. Given this position, CATW-AP views that change in the individual is an important component, coupled with policy advocacy will contribute to social transformation. As such, CATW-AP gives simultaneous effort to individual and policy advocacy.

The rationale for the Young Men’s Camp project is to address gaps in current intervention programs that ignore or avoid addressing the demand side for prostitution and sex trafficking. At the same time, it is CATW-AP’s response to Article 9 of the new UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children[ii] that call upon countries to take or strengthen legislative or other measures to discourage this demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of women and children.[iii]

Within the framework of addressing the demand side, the Young Men’s Camp aims to influence a small population of young men to go through the process of examining their inner selves and to rethink a new concept of masculinity and as a result, to take action to change their perceptions and attitude towards women in general and women in prostitution in particular.

The project’s main strategy is to educate young men in schools and communities where demand for prostitution flourishes. This education strategy takes the form of a series of young men’s training camps with participants of around sixty young men (with ages from 16-21) in each camp.

2. Participatory approaches in designing and organizing the Young Men’s Camps

The three-day Young Men’s Camp has five key components, namely: (1) the development of teaching materials; (2) the actual conduct of the Camp; (3) Training of Trainers (TOT) workshops; (4) the Camp assessments, and (5) support to follow-up activities conducted by Camp graduates. In conducting these five key components, the project has tapped the Coalition and network members, partners, survivors, experts, and young men graduates to participate in the planning, implementation and assessments in the various activities of the Project.

a. Development of Teaching Materials

Materials development is a key activity conducted under the Young Men’s Camp project. In developing materials for the Camps, the Program staff relied heavily on the researches conducted by the CATW-AP Research, Documentation and Publication unit. The researches, publication, and information, education and communication (IEC) of the unit significantly contributed to the successful implementation of the Young Men’s Camps. In particular, the researches are the sources of information for the Camp facilitators as well as for the participants’ handouts. Likewise, Coalition members, experts and the young men graduates took part in developing these materials.

In the course of implementing the six Young Men’s Camps, the project has developed the following materials:

  • In 2004, additional instructional materials for facilitators (i.e. the four flipcharts on prostitution with core messages) were developed and the module design and the pre-/post-test instrument were revised.
  • In 2005, flipcharts on male sexuality and on VAW were developed.

In addition, it has produced a video, written and directed by a young male student, entitled “First Time,” which depicts how young men go through male rites-of-passage using women in prostitution to become “real men.” Another material developed is the Camp module that was based on the focus group discussions held in communities in ValenzuelaCity and CaloocanCity and in four schools[iv] in Manila, Quezon City and DumagueteCity. The module before being finalized has undergone a meticulous process of discussions, critiques and consultations. Series of consultations and round table discussions with experts and survivors were conducted to enhance the design of the module. Workshops on drafting the module as well as on creative pedagogy were also conducted. The draft module was again subjected to discussions and critiques through a round table discussion with experts to further enhance the design and another one was done to finalize it.

The final module covers a wide array of topics under three major sections: (1) an introduction to gender issues, (2) prostitution, and (3) reconstructing male sexuality. The first section, “Introduction to Gender Issues” includes topics on the concepts of sex and gender; gender division of labor; gender issues such as stereotyping, economic marginalization, political subordination, multiple burdens, violence against women; patriarchy; and ritual of commitment. The second section, “Prostitution,” specifically covers such topics as the social construction of sexuality; male sexuality and prostitution, the actors in prostitution, and how patriarchy, capitalism and racism mediate in prostitution. And the last section, “Reconstructing Sexuality,” covers the topics on the images of real men and empowering relationships, and on setting commitments.

b. The Actual Conduct of the Young Men’s Camps[v]

The three-day Camp’s objectives are: (1) to enable young men to critique the social construction of male sexuality; (2) to envision a different role for men - that of working against the sexual exploitation of girls and women; and (3) to challenge other young men to a different standard of manhood.

The young men participants are divided into three workshop groups under the name of Filipino male heroes[vi] – Rizal, Jacinto and Bonifacio. A team composed of a female and a male facilitator and a documentor, who is a CATW program staff, partner or a network member is assigned to each workshop group. A student facilitator who is a graduate of previous Camp is assigned to assist each team.

Although the participants work in separate groups each day, they come together during plenary to consolidate their learning and during the panel portion of the Camp when a survivor shares her personal narrative of sexual exploitation and victimization. This aspect of the Camp makes everybody gets emotional as the personal narrative sears each one’s sensitivity. According to the Camp participants and graduates interviewed, this portion of the Camp has the most impact on them as learners and as males because the issue of prostitution and trafficking was given a human face through the survivor’s testimony.

The three-day workshop is capped by a cultural presentation of each group, portraying their visions of a gender-fair relationship and a canvass bag-painting session to make visual representations of their personal commitment to stop trafficking and prostitution. At the end of the camp, the graduates identify action points that they would conduct as follow up activities. These follow-up activities include forums, echo workshops and informal group discussions.

c. Training of Trainers

In preparing the facilitators for the Camp, the Project conducts a Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop to hone the facilitation skills of Camp facilitators and selected Camp graduates who are being developed to become student facilitators. In October 9-10, 2004, a TOT was conducted and attended by 10 graduates of the first Camp. In 2005, two TOT workshops were conducted – one was conducted on May 12-14, 2005 and attended by 10 graduates of the second Camp and another one on April 19-20, 2005 attended by 10 graduates. Another two TOT workshops were conducted in 2006 – one on April 7-9, 2006 and was attended by 15 graduates of the 4th Camp and adults facilitators and another one was conducted on October 13-15, 2006, attended by 15 graduates of the 5th Camp and adult facilitators.

These TOTs also provide venues for the student facilitators to deepen their framework on trafficking and sexual exploitation of women. In these training activities they were not only given a clear gender analysis of prostitution and the patriarchal construction of male sexuality and its link to the demand for prostitution but also to deepen their awareness of the link of prostitution to other structural issues like globalization and militarism. Likewise, through these TOTs, the student facilitators not only learn the skills in facilitation but also deepen their skills in organizing and leadership.

d. Camp assessments

To further enhance the conduct of the Young Men’s Camps, CATW-AP employed some built-in processes and structures to draw out lessons and insights out of the Camp experience. One such mechanism is the assessment of the camps. Within the 3-year period, two Camp assessments were conducted, one on June 14, 2004 and another on February 4, 2005. In addition, pre-and post-test assessments are conducted in each camp to assess changes in knowledge and perceptions among camp graduates.

To assess the changes among camp graduates, the project has devised a two-pronged evaluation strategy: one focuses on the outputs (i.e. pre-and post-test assessment measuring changes in knowledge and attitudes of graduates) and the other focuses on the training process and impact of the Camp. The pre-and post-test assessments measure the changes in knowledge and perceptions of young men in regard to male sexuality and sexual exploitation. These assessments are done during the three-day Camp period. On the other hand, the second assessment measures the immediate impact of the Camp on the graduates.

e. Support to follow-up activities of Camp graduates

As an expression of their commitment to address the issue of trafficking and prostitution and to challenge the dominant notion of masculinity, the Camp graduates identified action points that they will pursue in their respective communities and schools. These action points are in the form of follow- up activities consisting of one-day forums/fora and echo workshops.

The Camp graduates organized these activities themselves and with assistance from the CATW-AP staff and a survivor. The format of these forums is similar to the panel session during the camp where the panel consisted of three speakers – a survivor to give testimony, a Camp graduate, who shares his Camp experience and its impact on his personal life, and a CATW-AP staff who provides the feminist perspective on the issues discussed, particularly sharing the framework in understanding prostitution as a form of violence against women (VAW) and as a product of male exercise of power over women, and the push factors in prostitution, primarily, the traditional definition of masculinity and the lack of economic and political rights of women. In addition to the panel, the infomercial, “First Time” is shown at the end of the forum.

Aside from support to follow up activities of Camp graduates, the Program also assists them in providing materials for their thesis and other school-related activities that have connection on the issue of prostitution and trafficking.

To sum up, these follow-up forums conducted by Camp graduates had educated a total of 4,075 young males in various parts of the country. If these initiatives of graduates be sustained and additional education sessions for these “re-echo” and “follow up forums” attendees be continued, the project could truly create a critical mass of gender-sensitive young men all over the country.

3.Strategies in organizing education Camps and empowering young men

a. Reaching the majority of young men through schools and networks

In preparation for the camp, the Program staff established contacts, either individuals or organizations, in various schools and communities to assist them in identifying youth leaders as potential Camp participants. CATW-AP links up with Coalition members and NGOs in a particular area to assist in identifying or recommending potential participants. In areas where there is no existing Coalition member, network partner or NGOs, CATW-AP links up with the local Sangguniang Pangkabataan (Youth Committee).

At the least, 3-4 student leaders are invited as potential Camp participants. To ensure peer support, the project employed the strategy of inviting young men from schools and communities in the same area. Simultaneous with ground working in schools and communities to identify potential participants, other preparatory activities were done such as module development, materials development for both facilitators and participants, and the training of Camp facilitators.

b. The use of creative and feminist pedagogies in teaching young men

In terms of methodology, the Camp uses popular education methodologies and feminist processes that include visual arts/painting, games, structured learning exercises, role playing, tableaux, video showing, personal narratives/testimonials, and rituals, targeting both the cognitive and affective domains of the learners, eventually, creating opportunities for reflections on the issues as these affect them on a personal level.

The infomercial “First Time” is used alongside other methodologies as a teaching tool in the Camps and was acknowledged by both facilitators and participants as a potent tool in examining the construction of male identities, particularly the sexual subjugation of women and the demand for women in prostitution.

c. Camp graduates as co-facilitators

The involvement of excellent graduates from the previous camps as junior facilitators served two purposes. One, such strategy creates a link from one camp to the next, thereby, providing the continuity of the Camps as an integral whole. Two, it provides an opportunity for the graduates to hone their capabilities in facilitation and eventually prepares them for continuing the program in their respective localities.

d. Male-female team facilitators

The female-male facilitators tandem is part of the education design where the male facilitator provides a male model who is critical of traditional standards of masculinity and can speak with authority about gender issues from a male perspective while the young female facilitator provides the feminist frame in the discussion and at the same time, serves as a voice of women’s experiences, particularly on the impact of gender issues on women.

4.The significant roles of Coalition members, partners, survivors, and camp graduates in the Project

Members of the Coalition and its network partners, the survivors and the young men’s camp graduates serve as key stakeholders and partners in the entire project cycle of the Young Men’s Camps. From the conceptualization of the project, the Coalition members as members of the Board were involved in the design of the project. During project implementation, Coalition members, either as individual or organizations’ representatives were involved in the preparatory phase of the project – they are much involved as primary contacts assisting the project in identifying potential participants and as facilitators and documenters during the Camps. On the other hand, the survivors’ groups participate in giving testimonies in every camp and follow-up forums while the camp graduates’ involvement were very significant in the enhancement and revision of the module design and actual conduct of the camps. Moreover, these camp graduates participated as co-facilitators in subsequent camps.

5.Monitoring changes and emerging impact of the Project

a. The pre- and post-tests as tools in gauging changes in knowledge and attitudes of graduates

To determine changes in the participants’ understanding, perceptions and knowledge about sexuality and gender issues, they are given pre and post- tests in every camp. The instrument used for the tests is adopted from a 40-question instrument developed by Dr. William Snell Jr. using a scale on “stereotype of male sexuality.” However, after the first Camp, the CATW staff expanded it to cover comprehensively other sexuality issues and came up with a revised shorter version with only 10 questions. This improvement is a manifestation of CATW-AP’s conscious effort to build on the lessons and assessment of previous camps to further enhance the implementation of the Camp project.

Below are some of the feedbacks and insights of the Camp graduates as a result of the three-day Camp[vii]:

“I have developed s positive attitude towards women. There should be equality between men and women. I learned that prostituted women should not be discriminated and instead be helped.”

“I learned the difference between men and women as well as the legal rights of women.”

“I learned how a real man should act – with a sense of equality, respect and be open –minded. I also learned communication skills in communicating with men and with women.”