HeForShe Movement

Gender equality is not just a women’s issue.  Men comprise half of the world’s population and it is vital that men and women work together to end human rights violations and inequalities amongst women/girls and men/boys.

In September 2014, UN Women launched HeForShe, a global solidarity movement for gender equality, with the aim of engaging and encouraging men and boys to take action against the gender inequality which women across the world face.  This worldwide movement seeks to progress the advancement of gender equality specifically through increased engagement of men and young people as advocates and agents of change.

Through the HeForShe campaign, the UN seeks to harness the responsibility of men in the gender equality agenda to spread awareness and inspire action to eliminate discrimination against women and girls.  Whilst much work has been achieved, for example, the UK’s Athena SWAN initiative, it is primarily women who have been involved.  Progress could be much more all-encompassing and effective, with men acting as key stakeholders and advocates for greater women’s equality.  As the UN state, this “is about crafting a shared vision of human progress for all”.

The United Nations is currently trialling an initiative called the 10x10x10 IMPACT Champions, in which the University has been selected to take part as one of 10 universities worldwide.

Please click the below Soundcloud to hear our President and Vice Chancellor speaking on BBC Radio Leicester on the project.  Please note that this may not work with older versions of Internet Explorer.