About us

Since Working With Men (WWM) was founded in 1988 there has been a steady growth in professional interest and public concern about men, particularly the new challenges they face in the 21st century and a perceived ‘crisis in masculinity’.

The last decade has seen a dramatic expansion of policy and practice initiatives seeking to address these new challenges. At WWM we have both responded to the rising interest and initiated new developments in work with men and boys, focusing on key issues such as: fatherhood and parenting, education and under-achievement, health (including sexual health and mental well-beingl), BME (black and ethnic minority) men, employment/unemployment and training, violence and crime, and relationships with women.

Our work is based on a number of principles:

• Our developing work is practice-led, rather than ideology or theory-led. Our training and consultancy work primarily aims to support others to develop their own practice.
  
• Men's needs are at the centre of what we do. So, for example, even within an issue such as domestic violence, an understanding of men's violence needs to include their loss of control, the wider socialisation of men, as well as men's sexism and abuse of power.
  
• We address the issues related both to resistances 'in men' and 'towards men'. So, for example, within men's health, we have to look at the decision making processes that stop men using primary healthcare services as well as any negative attitudes, stereotypes and fears that primary healthcare workers may have of men.
  
• We underpin our work with an understanding of masculinities. Regardless of whether the issue is fatherhood, sexual health, underachievement or criminality, we are interested in why boys and men do what they do, and what we can do about it. However, this understanding of masculinity includes a view that there are a variety of (sometimes competing) masculinities which are determined by race, class, sexuality, disability, geography, religion and culture and that we will grapple with the differences within our own work and encourage others to do the same.
  
• Within a positive approach to working with men, we support individuals and groups of men and advocate on their behalf, whilst also developing work and strategies that address racism, sexism and homophobia in particular and oppression in general.