Nicaragua - As part of a regional project to prevent violence against women, IOM and Nicaragua’s Ministry for Women held a series of training sessions on ways to build a new masculinity in the country.

The workshops, held in the cities of Corinto and Leon for male residents from 11 municipalities, were designed to inform and prompt a transformation in male relations with women from a position of power, as a way to prevent violence against women, children and adolescents.

Participants were encouraged to participate in the hands-on exercises based on real-life situations during the two-day event.

The sessions included videos and included modules on identifying gender roles, as well as discussions on ways to prevent violence against women from the personal, family and community perspectives.

Central America has one of the highest levels of violence in the world, where the most vulnerable groups are women and girls.  Official studies point to one in four women having experienced sexual and physical violence at the hands of their spouse or partner.

Some 13 per cent of the Nicaraguan men interviewed on the issue have stated that women should accept violence behavior form their spouse or partner for the benefit of the family unit.

The IOM Head of Office in Nicaragua, Paola Zepeda, explained that the workshops are part of a longer process that includes drafting a specialized manual on the new masculinity concept that will be used as a vital tool in all future trainings that will be part of the country’s policy in strengthening the family and the prevention of violence.

“This first training and the manual under development will serve to strengthen the capacity of government officials, male and female, so they can carry out similar trainings throughout the country as part of a permanent program to prevent gender violence,” added Zepeda.

Similar trainings will take place throughout March and April in the municipalities of Dipilto (Nueva Segovia), Cárdenas (Rivas), Matagalpa, Siuna, Waspán, Granada and the capital Managua.

The regional project, Prevention of Violence Against Women in Central America, promotes local schemes, preventive care policies and assistance mechanisms at the national and regional levels to combat various forms of violence against women, particularly human trafficking and femicide.  The project is funded by the Governments of Finland and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and is being carried out by IOM, UNFPA and SICA in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama and stems from the Central American Security Strategy implemented by the Central American Integration System.

For further information, please contact

Anabell Cruz Zavala
IOM Nicaragua
Email: amcruz@iom.int
Tel: +505 227 89569