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Cry Like a Boy is an original podcast series from Cuffnews that looks at the stories of men in five African countries who are challenging what it means to “be a man” in their societies, and campaigning for gender equality.

Through on-the-ground reporting by local journalists in Burundi, Senegal, Lesotho, Guinea, and Liberia, and in-studio discussions that bring together African and European perspectives, this series looks at how the men are changing themselves and their communities.

1 – The Abatangamuco in Burundi: The Theatre

A decade ago, Innocent was an abusive husband who beat his wife and squandered the family’s money on his extra-marital affairs. Then he met a group of men who have led thousands in Burundi to rethink their behaviour and change their lives.

2 – The Abatangamuco in Burundi: The Couple

We continue the story of Innocent, an abusive husband who changed his ways, stopped hitting his wife, and ended up becoming the most influential man in his village. We also explore the reasons behind his transformation.

3 – The Abatangamuco in Burundi: The Lessons

We look at the solutions to domestic violence in Burundi, and across the world, as well as exploring what the Abatangamuco could teach European men.

4 – The Abatangamuco in Burundi: The Solutions

In this episode, you will hear how an advertising campaign in Norway made men question the toxic and destructive aspects of their masculinity. We will also discuss how the involvement of men from communities, not just women, is important in achieving gender equality.

5 – The Góor-jigéen in Senegal: The Secret

Junior, a young Senegalese man, reveals a secret he’s kept from his family and his closest friends for fear not only rejection but persecution and even imprisonment. The secret is that Junior is gay.

6 – The Góor-jigéen in Senegal: The Past

A few decades ago, some Senegalese men openly identified themselves as not male or female, but as an alternative gender – the “Góor-jigéen” or “men-women”. Senegalese society accepted them, and they moved about freely in the streets of Dakar and other towns, dressed as women.

7 – The Góor-jigéen in Senegal: The Coming-out

In this episode, we will see how in Africa but also in countries like France, being homosexual could be a lifetime burden. A lot of them will choose their happiness over the respect of society’s “rules”.

8 – The Góor-jigéen in Senegal: Sexual colonisation

What are the origins of homophobia in Africa? Where do the laws that punish same-sex relationships come from? South-African activist Khopotso Bodibe speaks to Youssef Belghmaidi, a Moroccan trans woman activist based in France, and Sheba Akpokli, an LGBTQI+ rights activist from Togo, about colonialism and its impact on sexual diversity and education.

9 – Banna Ba Mamaenara in Lesotho: Brothers of darkness

How far are you willing to go to provide for your family? Would you put your life at risk to put bread on the table? What if you had no choice? There is a country in Africa where thousands of men have felt so much pressure to provide for their families that they are employed by criminal gangs as illegal miners, digging for gold in clandestine mines. In some cases, they will never see the light again.

10 – Banna Ba Mamaenara in Lesotho: No man’s land

_There’s an impoverished mountainous district of Lesotho where many illegal mineworkers live with their families. But women often wait there for their husbands for months and sometimes years. _

Cry Like a Boy is published every two weeks in English and also in French under the title Dans la tête des hommes.

Here’s how we created this multilingual podcast between Africa and Europe without getting on an airplane.

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