HeforShe solidarity movement for gender equality

The UN Women is working to build a solidarity movement for gender equality. Launched on International Women's Day (8 March) 2014, the HeForShe campaign aims to engage one billion men by July 2015 as "advocates and agents of change for the achievement of gender equality and women's rights."

The HeForShe campaign messages are:

• "Gender inequality is one of the most persistent human rights violations of our time. Despite many years of promoting gender equality, inequalities among women/girls and men/boys continue to manifest in egregious ways around the world.
• HeForShe is a solidarity movement for gender equality that engages men and boys as advocates and stakeholders, to break the silence, raise their voices and take action for the achievement of gender equality.
• Gender equality is not only a women's issue, it is a human rights issue that affects all of us - women and girls, men and boys. We all benefit socially, politically and economically from gender equality in our everyday lives. When women are empowered, the whole of humanity benefits. Gender equality liberates not only women but also men, from prescribed social roles and gender stereotypes."

UN Women is the facilitator, convenor and implementer of the campaign. It guides the localisation of the campaign for adoption by local stakeholders. The Action Kit provides six steps for implementing the campaign in a local context, including appointment of a "focal point" or organisation which will act as a liaison, an implementation plan, funding considerations, a event launch, local activities, and monitoring and evaluation.

The campaign is supported by the use of the HeForShe campaign logo, website, and official social media channels on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Other resources on engaing men in violence prevention:

Baker, G. (2013). Effectively involving men in preventing violence against women. Auckland, New Zealand: New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse, University of Auckland.

For a critical perspective:

Meer, S. (2012). Struggles for gender equality: reflections on the place of men and men’s organisations. Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa.

Media

UN Women launches HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 Initiative, UN Women, 23.01.2015

HeForShe is for me, Maxim Institute, 30.09.2014

Press Release: Emma Watson Launches HeForShe Campaign, UN Women, 20.09.2014

Image: Man and Woman, by AIGA. Licence: Public Domain Dedication.