Filipino men's familial roles and domestic violence: implications and strategies for community-based intervention.

Men's gender roles have contributed to family violence, but the ramifications of these roles in the development of community-based programmes for men have not been given much attention. A small-scale qualitative examination of the familial context of Filipino men's positions and roles, and their domestic violence experiences and attitudes was carried out using eight discussion groups, each group with seven to eight members. Verbatim tape-recorded transcripts were analysed using accepted techniques for theoretical analysis to establish emergent themes. Discussants saw themselves as being at the helm of their families. Men were knowledgeable of and took responsibility for their gender roles exerting control over the focus and direction of all their family affairs, including the gender roles of their wives/partners. This control demonstrated facets of their hegemonic masculinity such as sexual objectification and dominance. Men in this society come from a traditional position of power, dominance and privilege. They will be particularly sensitive to interventions aimed at reducing violence against women which will inquire into their private lives. In their view, such interventions were both a direct challenge to their family leadership and a basis for 'losing face'. Strategies for positive interventions include the need for male-sensitive and male-centred approaches which avoid demonising or stereotyping men.