by Nadia Ramoutar, MMM Communications Coordinator               Ireland                        21. 10.2026

A recent report from UNICEF alarmingly indicates that intimate partner violence starts early in the lives of girls.  Globally, nearly 30 per cent of adolescent girls aged 15–19 years are estimated to have experienced intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their lives.  This is about 43 million girls worldwide.  There are more details of this report available for you to review if you would like.

I have worked for MMM for over five years now and my work in dealing with issues for girls and women has been very meaningful to me.  I am fortunate to work in a matriarchal structure in which I feel valued and appreciated.  The MMMs will celebrate the 90th anniversary of being founded next year in 2027.  While I appreciate all the efforts we are making, I think that looking at this statistical report from UNICEF there is something staringly obvious and wrong here.  What concerns me is the “who” of this report?  The girls are being abused by someone.

Much of the efforts around girls and violence frequently include ways in which girls can avoid being victims of crime – but the truth is so little effort seems to go into actually breaking these cycles by focusing on the true issue here – how can we raise less violent boys and men?

I am the mother of two males.  I know that raising a boy is not always easy in ways that can be challenging.  No parenting is easy – but when you a mother raising boys into men you have to be very careful that you get your messaging right.  At an early age I started to talk to my sons about concepts like “consent” – what does it mean, how does is impact them.  Recently my youngest son found himself challenged when he lost his temper and raised his voice when frustrated in losing an online video game.  Teaching boys how to deal with frustration and to be able to lose graciously is not an easy thing to do.

Many boys now lack positive male role models in their lives for several reasons and this is a global issue that we can see worldwide.  It is important that boys get a clear understanding of what it means to grow up into responsible, compassionate and reasonable adults.  They will not be able to get their way all the time.  They cannot use their size and strength to overpower others.  Girls are not lesser than them in anyway because they may be smaller or less able to defend themselves.

It is all our responsibility as communities to help raise secure, confident, responsible and decent men.  Very bad things happen in our world when this does not happen.  We need to find new ways to address an age old problem – what can we do to raise strong men who do not continue to perpetuate old and harmful ways in our world.