Preventing Gender-Based Violence Among Latino Boys Using a Culturally Grounded, Gender Transformative Approach: A Review of the Literature and Call to Action

There is an increasing call to engage boys in gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and for GBV prevention to be gender transformative. Also, there are increasing calls for GBV prevention to be culturally grounded and invested in elevating and empowering youth voices to ensure programming is reflective of youths' experiences in affirming and inclusive environments. In this call to action, we argue that youth-centered, culturally grounded, gender transformative approaches to prevention may be especially powerful in preventing GBV among Latino boys, who represent a substantial number of youth in the United States. To date, GBV prevention programs for Latino boys have demonstrated limited effectiveness, which may be because none incorporated such approaches simultaneously. After a review of the literature on GBV among Latino boys, we argue that effective GBV prevention for Latino boys likely needs to consider the ways in which Latino boys' lived experiences and conceptualizations of masculinity intersect with GBV. Latino boys may be more likely to use skills (e.g., social emotional skills) included in evidence-based GBV prevention if programming content is delivered through a youth-centered, culturally grounded, gender transformative lens. We further discuss the need for innovative delivery approaches, such as online-delivered programming to reach Latino boys in rural regions of the United States and the potential impact of male-identified program facilitators in serving as mentors and sources of support. We end with an agenda for future research on integrated approaches to GBV prevention for Latino boys, including those who are multiply minoritized, and the need for efforts that address systemic racism and other forms of oppression inextricably linked to Latino boys' use of GBV.