A/HRC/38/24 of gender-based violence against women are men and boys, supporting men and boys who experienced or were exposed to violence is one of the key measures for violence prevention. In particular, many interventions aimed to support men to build non-violent and caring fatherhood.60 Such initiatives include increased engagement of expectant or young fathers in maternal and child health. The Responsible, Engaged and Loving Fathers initiative, a community-mentoring programme engaging young, first-time fathers to reduce intimate partner violence and physical punishment of children in Uganda, reported that it reduced intimate partner violence and physical punishment of children committed by young fathers.61 30. Several States reported efforts made to rehabilitate the male perpetrators of genderbased violence against women and girls, through the provision of treatment and counselling. 62 It was pointed out that open communication in a safe space created by individual and/or group counselling helped men to share their own life stories and perceptions, including reflecting on insecurity and the fear of losing power. Feeling that their experiences were being heard provided an opportunity to learn about non-violent and more equitable ways of relating to others. 63 Caution was suggested, however, as the safety of victims/survivors must be secured in such interventions. 31. Men and boys experiencing or witnessing the traumatic events of violence in conflict and post-conflict situations are later associated with higher levels of domestic and intimate partner violence.64 The global strategy on sexual and gender-based violence of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 65 includes engaging men and boys as one of the six action areas. It recognizes men and boys both as the potential agents of change as well as potential victims of sexual and gender-based violence.66 In Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic, UNHCR involves men and boys to develop awareness-raising materials on sexual and gender-based violence and its prevention. The active involvement of youth groups, men and boys as agents of change is also a key feature of the UNHCR response in Mauritania and Yemen. In the displacement camps of Kachin State in Myanmar, UNFPA supports a network of male volunteers to raise awareness of the need to end violence and the need to intervene if it happens. Communitybased programmes, such as those targeting both men and women in post-conflict situations to help them recover from trauma, 67 rebuild their lives and adopt positive coping mechanisms, as well as those targeting young persons (both male and female) to strengthen their agency and voice to respond to negative gender norms,68 resulted in positive outcomes. F. Establishing a legal and policy framework 32. Establishing a comprehensive legal and policy framework on gender equality, nondiscrimination and the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence is the foundation for progress towards gender equality. A number of contributions indicated that a lack of or 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 Programme P of MenCare, a global fatherhood campaign. See https://mencare.org/resources/program-p. Submissions by Georgetown University and Promundo United States. Submission by Georgetown University. Submissions by Japan, Mexico and Norway. Submission by MenCare. Submission by Promundo United States. UNHCR, “Action against sexual and gender-based violence: an updated strategy”, 2011. As regards sexual and gender-based violence against men and boys, see, for example, the report of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan. Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/CoHSouthSudan/Pages/Index.aspx. Several other United Nations investigations have also addressed sexual and gender-based violence against men and boys. Living Peace initiative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. See the submission by Promundo. The Gender Roles, Equality and Transformation project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Uganda (see http://irh.org/projects/great_project). See also the submission by Georgetown University. 11