Men's Sexual Health Matters (MSHM) is a newly established UK-based research and advocacy organisation dedicated to understanding and advancing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues that uniquely affect men and their partners. Improving men’s SRH is of critical importance – to address men’s own needs, to engage men in the SRH of women, girls, other men and non-binary people, and to achieve greater gender equality.
Approach
-
Research to better understand men’s SRH needs: MSHM will support and conduct research to build the evidence-base on the SRH needs of men and their partners.
-
Policy advocacy: MSHM will collaborate with policymakers, practitioners, and organisations to strengthen men’s SRH considerations within local and national policy.
-
Awareness raising on men’s unmet SRH needs: MSHM will foster greater awareness and attention on men’s SRH among key stakeholders and broader society.
-
Partnership: MSHM will collaborate and support other actors working to advance SRH
MSHM’s work is informed by a landscape analysis of existing charities and organisations working on SRH in the UK, which has identified a gap in a dedicated and comprehensive focus on men’s SRH beyond the critical existing work of those advancing key SRH issues (such as HIV and AIDS) and on key at-risk populations (such as GBMSM). This approach will allow MSHM to complement and support the current work on these organisations.
MSHM’s work focuses on all components of men’s SRH, including: STIs; HIV and AIDS; contraception; fertility; sexual dysfunction; reproductive cancers; sexual pleasure; relationships; discrimination; and violence. MSHM seeks to advocate for the needs of all male groups, including older men, young men, men with disabilities, men living with serious health conditions, GBMSM, transgender people, heterosexual men, and ethnic minority men.