In countries around the world many women report that men have abused them. For example, a study of women in La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia, found that 37% had suffered either physical or verbal abuse at one time or another. Of these, 42% said violence occurred often (298). In Colombia about 20% of women report that they have been beaten. In Papua New Guinea more than half of all rural and urban women report physical abuse. In one Kenyan district 42% of wives said their husbands beat them regularly. In the US an estimated 21% to 30% of women are beaten by a male partner at least once during their lives (261).

Men play many roles in society that place them in positions to discourage the abuse of women. As fathers, judges, police officers, and community leaders, as well as husbands and sex partners, men have the status and power to help change social and behavioral norms to end the abuse of women (261). Men can play critical roles in ending abusive traditional practices, too, such as female genital cutting, or female genital mutilation (FGM) (48). (See Female Genital Mutilation: A Reproductive Health Concern, Supplement to Population Reports, Series J, No. 41, October 1995.)

Recently, for example, two men in Senegal, an imam and a village leader, helped village women to begin eliminating FGM. After learning about the dangers of FGM in an educational program, these two men visited 10 neighboring villages to talk with elders and community members. As a result, the 8,000 villagers promised to stop FGM in their communities. Their efforts encouraged the president of Senegal to call for a law against female circumcision (166).