By: Dr JE Musoba Kitui
Regional Director, Ipas Africa Alliance
The fight for women’s rights and gender equality faces a critical moment in 2025, 30 years on after the Beijing Conference on Women’s Rights. The global resurgence of patriarchy and the policy shifts reinstating restrictive reproductive health policies signal a dangerous trend of the threat to hard-won progress in gender equality and women’s rights everywhere.
What can male allies do to accelerate action in support of the feminist cause and counter this resurgence of patriarchal control?
The role of men in the fight for gender justice and women’s rights presents a complex challenge. While many male allies are personally committed to these causes, we still benefit as individuals and as groups from societal privileges associated with just being men. This inherent privilege and power create a trust and efficacy challenge to men’s contribution to the feminist struggle, especially during times of renewed attacks on women’s rights as these.
To be effective allies, we can commit to these actions men:
𝟭. 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲: Learn about gender inequality and aim to get to the psychological heart of its drivers.
𝟮. 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻: Actively seek out and learn from the lived experiences of women at the intersections of race, indigeneity, and geography.
𝟯. 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁 ‘𝗨𝘀 𝘃𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺’ 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀: Challenge language and actions that create categories and divisions of exploitative stereotypes and roles.
𝟰. 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗲𝗱𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿: Recognize and relinquish arbitrary privilege and power that men hold in personal and professional settings.
𝟱. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Critically examine, demystify and challenge harmful religious conservatist ideas, traditional values, and their instrumental interpretations.
𝟲. 𝗘𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽: by ceding spaces to feminist voices, amplifying their narratives, and centering their experiences.
We must find ways to collaborate across traditional fault lines to dismantle the intersecting attacks on women’s rights. This requires a critical mass of male allies willing to disrupt and deconstruct the inequality machines and systems, at our own cost, even risking social or professional standing.
It is not easy. We need courageous action and solidarity.
What concrete steps will you take today, tomorrow and the day after to accelerate action for women’s equality?