The Community of Practice (CoP) on Men, Masculinities, and Feminist Peace is co-convened by PAX, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and the Violence, Inequality and Power Lab at the University of San Diego. It brings together peacebuilding organisations and individuals globally to address the role of militarised masculinities in driving conflict and inequality.
Socially constructed gender norms that associate masculinity with power, control, and violence exacerbate insecurity, perpetuating patriarchal systems that exclude marginalised voices from peace processes. The Community of Practice aims to challenge these norms by fostering collaboration among stakeholders to advocate for feminist peace grounded in equality, justice, and demilitarised security.
Since 2021, the Community of Practice has facilitated peer exchanges, strengthened collaboration, and explored strategies to counter harmful masculinities and mobilise men for systemic change. Participants seek to formalise this network to sustain partnerships, share insights, and develop multi-level inclusive peacebuilding approaches, from community education to policy advocacy.
Challenging socially constructed gender norms
What is the problem?
Research tells us that socially constructed gender norms which associate masculinity with power, violence, and control, play an important role in driving conflict and insecurity, and in turn, gender norms associated with masculinity change due to conflict and insecurity. All the while, most peace and transitional processes continue to be shaped and dominated by the voices, perspectives, and interests of those men who hold power, and who require the continuance of patriarchal systems to retain this power.
However, many men and boys in all their diversities in all parts of the world oppose these rigid, inequitable, and violence-endorsing norms, and work in solidarity with women and those beyond the gender binary to resist them. Currently inclusive peacebuilding insufficiently engages men and explores masculinities.
Our stance
We believe that inclusive peace can only be realized by effectively challenging constructed gender norms and addressing the root causes of violence through an intersectional and feminist lens that examines unequal power dynamics and identifies entry points for gender transformative peacebuilding, particularly engaging more men towards inclusive peace and gender equality.
What we do
The Community of Practice facilitates ongoing collaboration, providing a platform for connection and support, discussing research in many stages of development, identifying and lessons learned from programming, building partnerships, and facilitating collaboration in programming, research and advocacy.
To effectively contribute to building feminist peace and build a strong alliance among diverse stakeholders, PAX initiated two online meetings in 2021 bringing together organisations interested in or actively working to counter militarised masculinities and engage men in feminist peacebuilding—primarily peacebuilding groups or those with expertise in masculinities, violence, and conflict. Building on these initial meetings, WILPF and PAX| organized the first in-person gathering in Tbilisi in June 2023. These convenings led to the establishment of a growing community of practice with over 80 active practitioners, strengthening connections, with ongoing quarterly peer exchanges, and collaboration in programming and advocacy.
For whom
Transformative gender work benefits both men and women, creating pathways for individual and collective involvement in inclusive peacework. By challenging harmful gender norms that perpetuate violence, we aim to redefine masculinity and engage men towards inclusive peace. We promote the understanding that masculinity is socially constructed and that men can actively support peaceful behaviours. This approach empowers women and gender minorities by breaking down structural barriers that exclude them from political participation, revealing how toxic masculine norms maintain oppressive power dynamics.
Report
Overview on the Community of Practice on Masculinities and Peace, or: Countering Militarised Masculinities
Report
Mobilising Men for Feminist Peace in Work on Peacebuilding, Non-Violence, Conflict Prevention, and Women’s Rights
Report
Men, Masculinities and Feminist Peace A Peer Exchange on Lessons, Challenges and Collaborations
Further reading
Partners
Participants of the Community of Practice
The CoP brings together colleagues from many organisations, universities and research centres and includes the Peace and Freedom Organisation (PFO – Iraq), Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy (MEND – Palestine), Geneva Graduate Institute, SaferWorld, International Peace Institute (IPI), Men Engage Alliance, Sonke Gender Justice, ABAAD Resource Center for Gender Equality in Lebanon, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Swiss Peace, Conciliation Resources, the Collective Action of Conscientious Objectors (Colombia), Violence, Inequality and Power Lab at the University of San Diego, Georgetown University, the University of Sheffield, Peace Track Initiative (Yemen), Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Reform (Norway) and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) and many others. The CoP also includes members from WILPF sections such as WILPF Cameroon, WILPF DRC, WILP Nigeria and WILPF Colombia (LIMPAL).
Contact
Ilse Wermink, Policy Advisor on Gender Peace and Security.