What about Men? : The gendered hierarchy of vulnerability in humanitarian aid

Gender mainstreaming has become a widely discussed and applied tool, aimed to aid progress towards gender equality. The latter has been an important aspect of international development and humanitarian action, as is evident from the Sustainable Development Goals. In humanitarian aid, this tool has the purpose of making aid more effective and inclusive, by critically assessing how crises affect women, men, girls, and boys differently. Specifically, it enforces a needs-based approach to delivering aid. However, gender biases still guide perceptions of vulnerability, which is a key determinant in needs assessment. Specifically, women and children are perceived to be the most vulnerable in all cases, while men are either sidelined, perceived as necessary allies to gender equality at most or, in the worst case, as threats. Though women and girls do suffer most from systematic gender inequality due to various factors, gender-specific threats are not reserved for women and girls, alone. Men and boys face different types of threats that are unique to their gender. This paper will explore male-specific vulnerabilities by addressing conceptual and theoretical concerns, followed by a policy analysis. This analysis is based on policies of implementing organizations in Syria in 2017. The purpose of this analysis is to determine whether these humanitarian actors are aware of male-specific vulnerabilities, and whether they address them in their policies and programming. In doing so, obstacles to the successful inclusion of men in gender mainstreaming efforts will be identified.