Trend Male-predominant crises in the Global South do not fit Western men's health frameworks

Summary

GWI's Men's Wellbeing Initiative argues that several crises in the Global South weigh mainly on men yet fall outside the Western deaths of despair model. In West Africa, tramadol misuse reaches a pooled prevalence of 30% in studied groups and works as a way for labourers to endure hard physical work. Southeast Asia faces a record methamphetamine crisis, with more than 230 tons seized in 2024, fed by instability and trafficking. In Ukraine the UN recorded 350 male victims among 484 cases of conflict-related sexual violence between 2022 and 2025. The Initiative says these emergencies challenge frameworks built on Western experience. It calls for responses that go beyond individual therapy and deal with the economic and safety conditions men face.