If you're interested in how you can access Hombres Unidos, preview the following presentation and Organizational Readiness checklist:

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Hombres Unidos Contra la Violencia Familiar is the first initiatve aimed at the primary prevention of sexual and intimate partner violence in the Latino migrant community.  The five session curriculum was developed through a multi year process that included research, design and development, implementation, modification, and evaluation.  Supported by the Centers for Disease and Control, Hombres Unidos was created with the help of expert members in Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence (s/ipv) prevention (known as the Leadership Consortium) and key staff from the MCN Family Violence Prevention Initiative.

Beginning in 2005, MCN discovered through field research with migrant men at various locations throughout the U.S., that approximately 60% of men thought rape was a big problem in their community and 67% thought partner abuse was a big problem.  77% of the men surveyed stated they would like to help prevent rape and partner abuse in their community.  Based on this information MCN and the Leadership Consortium guided the development of a five session male-to-male peer led curriculum.

In 2007, MCN implemented the newly developed curriculum at three sites in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Florida.  During this implementation phase, promotores de salud around the country used the bilingual Hombres Unidos curriculum to facilitate workshops with Latino migrant men to prevent violence before it starts. 

The objectives of this implementation phase were to:

1. Increase the knowledge amongst migrant men about the factors that contribute to s/ipv and the consequences of s/ipv.
2. Change the attitudes and beliefs that support s/ipv among migrant men.
3. Increase the skills for preventing s/ipv among program participants and outreach workers.
4. Mobilize migrant men to stop and prevent s/ipv in their community.

The Hombres Unidos Contra la Violencia Familar curriculum was modified and completed in 2008 and covers topics such as gender roles, defining s/ipv, the causes and consequences of violence and building skills to prevent and respond to violence are discussed.  The promotores that carried out the workshops during the implementation phase expressed  excitement about the program as they stated that participants demonstrated real changes in attitudes and the desire to speak out against violence in the community.  Omar Fana Tavarez, a facilitator from Pennsylvania explained his gratification at seeing the participants share their comments on how the program affected them, saying "one man explained to the whole group that the workshops have truly affected him and that he thinks he is going to be a better father and husband when he reunites with his family." 

In 2008, Hombres Unidos Contra la Violencia Familiar was selected for the Robert Wood Johnson Stregthening What Works Initiative, an initiative focusing on strengthening evaluation capacity and skills, providing an understanding of the processes and outcomes, and enhacing program sustainability for programs that focus on the prevention of intimate partner violence in immigrant and refugee communities.  Because of this initiative, MCN was able to strengthen their evaluation of the curriculum and changes in knowledge, attitude, behaviors, and beliefs as well as make minor modifications for desired outcomes to the curriculum.  A final version of the curriculum is currently available.

Email for more information on the Hombres Unidos curriculum and workshop set up.