What We’re Learning: Supporting Boys Through Creative Expression
At PACT, our mission to end child sexual exploitation means ensuring that all children are protected — boys included. Through research initiatives like And Minnesota Boys, Too, PACT continues to challenge assumptions, close knowledge gaps, and elevate the unique experiences of boys affected by sexual violence.
At a conference this fall, Dr. Reynaldo De Leon Jr., Senior Manager of Research and Community Engagement at PACT, joined experts from across the Americas for the Collective Dialogue on Boys, Safety, and Gender-Sensitive Responses in Lima, Peru. The three-day convening, organized by the Down to Zero Alliance and ECPAT International, brought together practitioners, advocates, and researchers to exchange experiences and co-create strategies to better protect boys from sexual violence.
Key Insights from the Dialogue
The discussions underscored that protecting boys requires evidence-based, survivor-centered, and trauma-informed strategies, principles that are already central to PACT’s educational initiatives. “Throughout the sessions,” Dr. De Leon noted, “we heard how important it is to break down gender stereotypes that limit how boys express themselves — to give them spaces to feel, to connect, and to heal.”
Participants also shared how they are using the arts, sports, and other forms of creative expression to help boys build connection and emotional confidence.
“We often talk about breaking cycles of violence, but we also need to build spaces where boys can simply be. Where they can express emotion, feel safe, and learn what healthy relationships look like.”
In Reflection:
One of the standout moments of the conference for Reynaldo was a small group activity with Taller de Vida, a community-based organization supporting Afro-Colombian and Indigenous women and youth affected by racial, gender, and wartime violence. The founder of the organization, Stella Duque, asked the participants to share what their hopes and wishes were for boys around the world. After reflecting on the transformative experiences of his life that took him from a young boy in the Philippines to working as an educator and researcher for community-based organizations like PACT, he came up with the following wish:
“I hope that boys have a trusted adult in their lives with whom they feel safe sharing their concerns, problems, or worries. I hope that they can access a range of emotions besides aggression or violence when facing difficulties. I hope that boys have role models to teach and show them what a healthy relationship looks like. I wish that adults continue to strive to deconstruct unhealthy norms about being a boy or man. I wish that they continue to improve the systems designed to protect boys from harm. I wish that adults would keep finding new ways to address violence affecting children around the world.”
