Working with Boys

Praajak’s work with boys and young men is grounded in a gender-transformative understanding of masculinity, recognising that boys are both shaped by restrictive gender norms and capable of challenging them. We create safe spaces where boys can explore masculinity, gender, power, relationships, sexuality, emotions, consent, discrimination, and social expectations, while developing empathy, communication, critical thinking, leadership, and healthy relationship skills.

A distinctive area of this work is Sexual Violence Against Boys (SVB)—an issue that remains largely invisible within child protection and public discourse. Praajak works to challenge the silence surrounding sexual violence against boys by addressing the gender norms that discourage boys from recognising, disclosing, or seeking support when they experience sexual abuse and violence. Our work recognises that the expectation that boys should be strong, sexually knowledgeable, emotionally resilient, and able to protect themselves can make experiences of sexual violence particularly difficult to disclose and seek help for.

Through the BUD (Boys Understanding and Dismantling) campaign, Praajak creates opportunities to bring conversations on sexual violence against boys, masculinity, consent, vulnerability, and help-seeking into communities and public discourse. The campaign challenges stereotypes that boys cannot be victims that boys should always be able to protect themselves, or that sexual violence against boys is less harmful or consequential.

Our work is also informed by a dedicated study on disclosure of sexual violence against boys, which examines the barriers and enabling factors that shape whether and how boys disclose experiences of sexual violence. The evidence generated through this work contributes to a deeper understanding of boys’ lived experiences and the changes needed within families, communities, and support systems to make disclosure safer and more meaningful.

Praajak’s engagement extends beyond childhood. Through Adult Male Survivors Groups, we create spaces where adult men with lived experiences of sexual violence can come together, share experiences, build collective strength, and challenge the silence and stigma surrounding their experiences. These groups recognise survivors not only as recipients of support but as knowledge holders and potential advocates who can contribute to changing how society understands and responds to sexual violence against boys and men.

Beyond Prevention: Understanding Boys’ Vulnerabilities

Our work goes beyond viewing boys primarily as potential perpetrators or focusing only on preventing violence against girls. Praajak recognises that boys themselves experience vulnerabilities within restrictive gender regimes. Expectations around dominance, control, emotional suppression, economic responsibility, risk-taking, aggression, and heterosexual masculinity can affect boys’ wellbeing, relationships, behaviour, and ability to seek help.

These gendered pressures can intersect with a range of harmful outcomes, including early and child marriage, domestic violence, sexual harassment, abuse and assault, substance dependence, and offending behaviour. Rather than addressing these issues in isolation, we work with boys to understand the underlying gender norms and create healthier pathways for expressing emotions, managing conflict, building relationships, making decisions, seeking support, and exercising agency.

Child marriage is one important area of this engagement. Boys are encouraged to examine how masculinity and gender expectations influence attitudes towards girls’ education, mobility, relationships, marriage, consent, and decision-making, as well as their own expectations around marriage and family responsibility. They are supported to question pressure to marry early and to become positive influencers within their families and communities.

Emerging Change

Through this work, boys and young men are increasingly able to question harmful expectations of masculinity, recognise their own vulnerabilities, express emotions, understand consent, and seek support. Conversations around sexual violence against boys are becoming more visible, challenging the assumption that boys cannot be victims or survivors.

The BUD campaign, evidence from the disclosure study, and the collective experiences of adult male survivors are helping bring greater visibility to SVB and strengthen understanding of the barriers survivors face. At the same time, boys engaged through gender and masculinities work are developing healthier ways of relating to themselves and others and becoming more capable of challenging discrimination, violence, child marriage, and harmful gender norms.

Vision

Praajak envisions a society where boys and men are free from restrictive expectations of masculinity and where experiences of sexual violence against boys are recognised, believed, and responded to with dignity and care.

We seek to build a continuum of prevention, understanding, support, evidence, and survivor leadership—from working with boys and young men to challenging harmful masculinities, to creating spaces for disclosure, and ultimately enabling survivors to become agents of change. Through this approach, Praajak aims to contribute to safer, more gender-equitable communities where both girls and boys can exercise agency, seek support, build healthy relationships, and live with dignity.

Key programme areas: Gender and masculinities, Sexual Violence Against Boys (SVB), BUD campaign, disclosure research, adult male survivor leadership, child marriage prevention, violence prevention, positive relationships, emotional wellbeing, youth leadership, and community engagement.

Key partners and systems engaged: Azim Premji Foundation, American Jewish World Services, Family for Every Child, Terre des homes, UNICEF, West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, Police, District Child Protection Units, Panchayati Raj institutions, Urban local governments, schools, families, and local youth groups.