Mark Brooks OBE, is an award-winning policy advisor on men and boys.He is the Director of Policy and Communications at the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys, the Chair of the Mankind Initiative, a Trustee at the Association for Male Health and Wellbeing, advisor to the UK APPG on Men and Boys, and co-founder of UK Men’s Day.
When he’s not wearing one of these many hats, Mark is behind the scenes of Westminster influencing policy, writing speeches, and twisting arms of politicians, to help change society for the better; becoming one of the chief architects of the historic, world-first Men’s Health Strategy of England, as announced last November. Such a roster of achievements, accolades, and awards, has taken decades of long, arduous, thankless work… which has finally started to bear fruit. And so, after many years fighting in the trenches, Mark joins George from TheTinMen, to share his story, his wisdom, and his increasing number of successes… What do you think? (Please note, we recorded this in December 2025, in case anything sounds politically dated) If you’re a man experiencing abuse, or know someone who needs help, please contact Mankind at mankind.org.uk/ ~Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction 00:55 – How the men and boys sector has changed 04:44 – Getting men back into eduction and work 06:48 – How male victims of abuse have been ignored 09:00 – Male victims of violence against women 13:11 – The Violence Against Men and Boys Strategy Bill 14:14 – Online harms against men and boys 17:18 – Does male suicide open the door to the more controversial issues in the men and boys space? 19:24 – How has domestic violence data changed? 24:21 – What is the Office for National Statistics? 26:15 – Is the "vast" majority of abuse victims, really women 27:51 – Bad data on domestic violence 29:44 – Why are abused men not accessing services? 32:10 – What is the Men's Health Strategy of England? 33:33 – Controversy around "Mens Health" 34:53 – Breaking down the Men's Health Strategy of England 38:26 – Less talk on patriarchy, and masculinity... 38:43 – What are the real issues impacting our boys? 39:32 – Half a million young men have missed out on higher education 42:25 – Is Westminster a "patriarchy" 43:57 – Boys in education, discussed in the media... 45:54 – Do young men hate women? 46:18 – Is the education system rigged against boys? 46:39 – What does the media say when boys fall behind? 49:54 – Do teachers mark boys down for the same work? 51:15 – The invisibilisation of Men and Boys issues? 54:40 – 100,000 men die every year in the global fishing industry 57:40 – What does the future look like for male victims of abuse? 59:28 – What does the future look like for Mark Brooks?
