Engaging Boys and Men in Sexual Assault Prevention - Chapter 6: The culture of masculinity and sexual violence: Raising boys to be nonviolent men

Masculine gender role norms (i.e., masculinity), in particular those related to patriarchal or hegemonic masculinity, are widely recognized as a risk factor for sexual violence perpetration among boys and men. Toward the goal of better understanding the intersection between masculinity and sexual violence among boys and men, this chapter: (1) reviews the associations between cultural constructions of traditional masculinity and the perpetration of sexual violence, (2) discusses the ways in which masculinity is communicated to boys and men across developmental stages and the social ecology, (3) considers how this messaging can serve to propagate sexual violence against women and SGM, (4) discusses how this knowledge of masculinity can be used to develop prevention strategies for sexual violence, and (5) concludes by delineating gaps in the research and discussing potential next steps for research and practice.