Supporting secondary school teachers to address online spaces as pathways to gender-based violence for boys and men: Interventions to tackle the influence of the 'manosphere'

Project Team

Project team: Dr Naomi Pfitzner, Dr Sarah McCook, Dr Stephanie Wescott, Professor Steven Roberts, Dr Alex Phelan
Project manager and Research Fellow: Dr Sarah McCook
Project officer: Ben Scott

About this project

This project brings together scholars, practitioners and educators to critically examine and address the influence and impact of the Manosphere upon young boys’ and men’s practices of masculinity that are harmful to women, girls and gender diverse people. The project aims to develop an understanding of the interconnections between online and offline spaces and how misogynistic discourses and gender narratives expressed in the Manosphere influence young boys and men in Australia. It takes a solutions-focused approach by piloting and evaluating a professional learning program for secondary school teachers to address the influence of the Manosphere in classrooms.

What will this study involve?

  1. An evidence review and virtual focus groups with young Australians to understand the links between the Manosphere, gender-based violence and the impacts for young people in Australia.
  2. Co-production workshops with school stakeholders to develop a professional learning program to support secondary school teachers to address the harmful impacts of online misogyny and the Manosphere on boys and young men in Australian schools.
  3. A pilot and evaluation of a professional learning program for secondary school teachers.

Professional Development Opportunity

While we have completed the funded pilot of our professional learning program 'Tackling the  manosphere in secondary schools', we are continuing to deliver the professional learning program to schools.

If you interested in having the professional learning program delivered to your school or teachers associations, please contact our team at SupportingSchools@monash.edu

New resources: An introductory guide to help schools address the growing influence of the manosphere

As part of our professional learning program for secondary schools, we have developed a resource called 'An introductory guide to the manosphere and the impacts for young people, teachers and schools'.

This resource helps educators and schools to understand:

  • Who the key manosphere figures and communities are
  • The beliefs they promote and the links to gender-based violence
  • How boys and young men are recruited
  • The role of social media in spreading these ideas
  • And the real impacts this is having on young people, school staff and communities.

Funding Acknowledgement

The research team gratefully acknowledges the financial and other support it has received from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) towards this research and, through it, the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

More Information

If you have any questions about the project, you can contact the research team on the dedicated project email: SupportingSchools@monash.edu

Project Contact