#HeForShe: the role of male allies for women journalists

Subscribe to the Journalism.co.uk podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud and Spotify

In 2014, the actress Emma Watson gave a speech to the United Nations calling on men to be advocates for the advancement of gender equality in society. The #HeForShe solidarity movement was formed to encourage men to support women.

Last weekend, the Coalition for Women in Journalism (CFWIJ) held a Twitter Spaces event to discuss how the ideas of this movement could apply to the news industry. As women face high levels of online abuse and sexism in the workplace, the question turned to: how can men be allies to their women colleagues and support them through the issues and challenges unique to them?

I was invited to moderate the conversation with Tim Smith, an award-winning Candian photojournalist and partnership associate of CFWIJ; Nik Williams, journalist protection advisor of CFWIJ; Kennedy Wandera, chair of the Foreign Press Association Africa; Xhemajl Rexha, chairman of the board of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo; Kiran Nazish, founding director, CFWIJ; and Alice Taylor, partnership associate CFWIJ.

In this week's podcast, we share the main messages and takeaways. The bottom line is this: women do not expect men to have all the answers, but they do need men to be present and proactive when it counts. After all, our newsrooms are better when we have strong and supported women working on the frontlines and in the boardrooms.

Since our inception, #CFWIJ has actively regarded the contribution of our male colleagues in advancing our mission to create safe & supportive environment for #women #journalists. Join us to learn more about the role of #HeForShe and how they compliment our support systems. pic.twitter.com/p80ZPUmk83

— #WomenInJournalism (@CFWIJ) November 25, 2021

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).