Gender Matters: Infusing a Gender Analysis into the “Healthy Development of All Youth” Grand Challenge

Abstract

Abstract The social work grand challenge to ensure healthy youth development necessarily involves a focus on violence prevention, including the prevention of sexual and dating violence during adolescence. The experience of sexual and dating violence is associated with numerous and often long-lasting detrimental mental, physical, and social outcomes, many of which this grand challenge seeks to prevent. Although evidence shows that gender is a critical axis of identity to consider in violence prevention research and practice efforts, gender is not a central lens applied in the field’s approach to such issues within this grand challenge. First, this article articulates a rationale for infusing a gender analysis into understanding sexual and dating violence and conceptualizing effective violence prevention strategies. Second, authors describe gender-transformative (GT) approaches to sexual and dating violence prevention, a promising practice for both ensuring the healthy development of youths and reducing violence perpetration by focusing on engaging boys and young men. Third, authors discuss the potential for GT strategies to be used in prevention efforts targeting adolescent social issues more broadly. Last, authors call for practitioners and researchers focused on healthy youth development to apply a gender analysis in their efforts and articulate concrete ways to do so.