International Men’s Day 2025: Celebrating Men and Boys and Confronting the Silence Around Their Struggles

Nadia Renata
5 minutes ago
7 min read

Four smiling people, two adults and two kids, pose against a brown backdrop. They wear colorful shirts: gray, pink, teal, and yellow.

Today, on International Men’s Day 2025, we celebrate the men and boys who shape our families, communities and culture with strength, resilience and quiet devotion.

This year’s global theme — “Celebrating Men and Boys” — calls us to reflect not only on their contributions, but on the emotional, psychological and societal burdens many of them carry with almost no support.

And as a Trinbagonian, I cannot ignore the truth: We are failing our men.

Not intentionally, but through silence, neglect and a lack of structural support.

A Caribbean Legacy: The Roots of Men’s Day in T&T

International Men’s Day has a deep Caribbean foundation. Although first observed internationally in 1992, it was Trinidad and Tobago’s Dr Jerome Teelucksingh who re-launched the movement in 1999 with a focus on:

positive male role models,
men’s and boys’ health,
improving gender relations,
and creating stronger, safer communities.

He chose 19 November to honour his father, a man who embodied generosity and integrity and to commemorate our national football team, whose performance on 19 November 1989 united an entire nation.

That unity, that pride, that sense of possibility is what International Men’s Day has always been meant to represent.

But we have drifted far from it.

Celebrating Men and Boys — While Acknowledging the Reality

The theme this year is joyful: “Celebrating Men and Boys.” But celebration without honesty is empty. We cannot celebrate men and boys without acknowledging:

the emotional isolation our boys face,
the pressure on men to function without support,
the stigma around male vulnerability,
the lack of programmes tailored to men in Trinidad and Tobago,
and the chronic underfunding of male-focused wellness initiatives.

These gaps aren’t theories to me.

I am living them.

My Personal Wake-Up Call: Planning the Men’s Wellness Interview Series

When I began planning my first Men’s Wellness Interview Series in 2024, I assumed finding speakers, professionals and role models would be straightforward.

It wasn’t.

I contacted people who didn’t respond.
I reached out to organisations, only to learn they didn’t have resources allocated for programmes targeting men.
Several experts said they were interested and wanted to help… but in the end danced me all around the mulberry bush, until I stopped reaching out.
I struggled to find male psychologists willing or available, especially since it was free.
I discovered that wellness programmes specifically targeting men and boys simply do not exist.

Even the few organisations in Trinidad working with men are under-resourced, understaffed and overwhelmed.

At first, I wondered if the struggle was because I was an unknown voice, or because I was a woman stepping into a space people like to label as ‘for men only’ — despite the fact that few men are actually doing the work there. A space that women are told not to enter, not to comment on and not to care about. But now, planning our second year, one truth has become painfully clear:

We have built an entire society where men’s pain is invisible unless it explodes.

We only “see” men when they’re violent, suicidal, homeless, incarcerated or breaking down. But we ignore the thousand smaller signs that come long before the crisis.

Man sits on floor by a window, hands clasped, looking contemplative. Wears dark t-shirt and jeans; room is dimly lit, conveying a somber mood.

The Silent Crisis: Men and Boys Are Falling Through the Cracks — and No One Is Catching Them

The statistics are not rumours. They are loud, consistent and heartbreaking.

Recent data suggest that approximately four out of five suicides in Trinidad & Tobago are by men.
Boys are more likely to be expelled or punished harshly in school.
Young men are disproportionately affected by violence and unemployment.
Men are more likely to suffer alone, undiagnosed and unsupported.
Fathers have limited avenues for emotional support or parenting guidance.
Men struggling with mental health rarely reach out because they expect to be mocked or dismissed.

And the cultural message remains:

“Man up.”

“Hold it together.”

“Don’t talk.”

“Don’t feel.”

We have raised generation after generation of boys who learn silence long before they learn language.

There Is Not Enough Being Done — And That Must Change

Let’s call it what it is: Men’s issues are the least funded, least discussed and least prioritised area of social development in the Caribbean.

We have:

countless programmes for women and girls (IMPORTANT AND NECESSARY),
multiple initiatives for youth empowerment,
numerous organisations supporting vulnerable families…

…but almost nothing specifically for male emotional wellness.

When men break, we say, “Why didn’t he ask for help?” But where exactly was he supposed to go?

When boys show anger, we say, “He’s too harden.” But who taught him another language?

When fathers struggle, we say, “He should do better.” But where is the guidance?

We cannot celebrate men and boys while continuing to leave them unsupported.

Celebration Must Include Action

International Men’s Day should be more than recognition. It should be a call to rebuild the emotional, legal and social support structures surrounding men and boys. Celebration without change is performance. Celebration with action becomes transformation.

Here’s what celebrating men and boys must look like:

1. Creating more programmes for men, not fewer - Mental health groups, mentorship circles, fatherhood workshops, safe spaces, not judgement zones. Men need places to talk, learn, heal and grow, without ridicule or suspicion.

2. Training more male psychologists, counsellors and mentors - Men often open up better to men. We need more male mental health professionals, not just for comfort, but for representation.

3. Addressing male loneliness, isolation and emotional suppression - Men are experiencing record levels of emotional isolation, and it is silently killing them. We must break the expectation that men must navigate life alone.

4. Reducing stigma around men seeking therapy or support - “Real men don’t cry” and “handle yuh business” are cultural cancers. They keep men in cycles of silence and emotional paralysis.

5. Teaching boys emotional literacy from early - A boy who can name his emotions becomes a man who doesn’t fear them. Emotional literacy is not a luxury. It’s survival.

6. Encouraging fathers to be more than providers; to be present - Caribbean fathers are increasingly choosing emotional presence, communication and gentle leadership. We must support and strengthen this movement.

7. Funding male wellbeing initiatives with the same seriousness given to every other group - Men’s programmes remain the least funded, least prioritised and least visible. Equity demands that we invest where the need is real, not where the narrative is comfortable.

8. Challenging the harmful belief that men must “handle everything” alone - Men carry pressure that would break most people - financial, emotional, familial, often with no safety net. Asking for help should not feel like failure.

But none of this will matter if the systems that govern men’s lives remain rooted in the past. And nowhere is this more obvious, or more damaging, than in our family courts.

9. Reforming an Archaic Court System That Still Sees Fathers as Secondary

This cannot be ignored. Caribbean family courts, including Trinidad and Tobago, still operate with outdated, mother-default assumptions that do not reflect modern fatherhood or the reality that fathers today are more emotionally present, more involved and more committed than ever before.

Too many men experience:

automatic bias in custody discussions
restricted access despite being capable, loving fathers
years-long legal battles just to spend meaningful time with their children
the cultural belief that fathers are “weekend parents”
emotional trauma from being treated as optional, replaceable or dangerous by default

And the ones who suffer the most are the children.

A legal system that limits a father’s presence without evidence of danger does not protect the child; it destabilises them. Children thrive on emotional consistency, healthy attachment and active involvement from both parents.

When a father has no history of violence, abuse, addiction or behaviours that place the child at risk, reducing him to a visitor harms the child’s sense of identity, security and long-term development.

However, where there is genuine risk to the child’s safety, access must be structured, supervised or restricted as necessary. Protection is always the priority.

The issue is not safeguarding children from unsafe fathers. That is essential.The issue is that far too many safe, responsible, loving fathers are being treated as if they are unsafe by default, with no evidence to justify it.

If we are serious about celebrating men and boys, we must confront the truth:

Our court systems still treat fatherhood as secondary, instead of essential.

Fathers matter.

Fathers are not visitors.

Fathers are not accessories.

Fathers are not “every other weekend.”

Men are stepping up.

The law must step up too.

Reform isn’t optional.

It is overdue.

And it is critical if we want stronger families and safer communities.

Celebrating men and boys means giving them real tools, real support and real spaces to heal.