All you need to know about International Men’s Day 2018

NP NEWS 24 ONLINE – When the whole world is talking about #MeToo and women improvement here it comes to International Men’s Day. Every news channel is having news related to women and they are talking about women rights and feminism. But is this putting men’s world in darkness?

Every year, International Men’s Day is commemorated worldwide to shine a spotlight on men who are making a positive difference and to raise awareness of issues that men face on a global scale.

With male suicide being the biggest killer of men under the age of 45, according to charity Calm, encouraging people to have open conversations about topics such as men’s mental health and male suicide is essential.

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When is it?

International Men’s Day is celebrated annually on 19 November. The date coincides with the birthday of the father of Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh, a doctor from Trinidad and Tobago who relaunched International Men’s Day in 1999.

Despite the existence of the global event over the past two decades, there are many who don’t realize that the day exists and some who oppose the notion of International Women’s Day, which takes place on 8 March.

What does it celebrate?

The aim of International Men’s Day is to celebrate positive male role models and to raise awareness of men’s issues. These include topics such as mental health, toxic masculinity and the prevalence of male suicide.

In the UK, men are three times more likely than women to take their own lives, according to emotional support charity Samaritans. Earlier this year, it was revealed that male suicides in the UK had dropped to their lowest rate for more than 30 years.

International Men’s Day coincides with Movember, which involves men growing their facial hair in an effort to promote conversations about men’s mental health, suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer.

“The observances of International Men’s Day are part of a global love revolution,” says Dr Teelucksingh.

“International Men’s Day is observed on an annual basis by persons from all walks of life, who support the ongoing effort to improve lives, heal scarred hearts, seek solutions to social problems, mend troubled minds, reform the social outcasts and uplift the dysfunctional.

Who is Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh?

Jerome Teelucksingh, who revived the event, chose 19 November to honor his father’s birthday and also to celebrate how on that date in 1989 Trinidad and Tobago’s soccer team had united the country with their endeavors to qualify for the soccer world cup. Dr. Teelucksingh has promoted International Men’s Day as not just a gendered day but a day where all issues affecting men and boys can be addressed. He has said of IMD and its grassroots activists, “They are striving for gender equality and patiently attempt to remove the negative images and the stigma associated with men in our society”