Why should men care about International Women's Day?

This International Women's Day, we ask how and why men should care more about feminist visions for a fairer society.

Every year on 8 March, women organise together to collectively demand their rights – specifically to transform gendered inequalities in paid and unpaid labour. 

But there is an aspect of this conversation that is not talked about enough. It is about men’s neglected role at home in unpaid care work and in supporting women's activism. 

This episode answers the question of why men should care more, highlighting the direct links between equal division of domestic responsibilities to women’s labour participation and autonomy.

These voices can help inspire wider discussions on the role of men in breaking down gender norms around what is perceived as women’s work, and how they can contribute to building change at home, at work and through progressive policy.

Speakers

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI
• Gary Barker, President & CEO, Equimundo
• Khawar Mumtaz, feminist scholar & activist, former Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women, Pakistan
• Aatif Somji, Senior Research Officer, ODI~
  
  

Related resources

• ALIGN platform
• From allyship to action: how men can step up to end violence against women (ODI event video/podcast)
• Is no space safe? Working to end gender-based violence in the public sphere (ALIGN briefing paper)
• How to partner with feminist movements for transformative change (ODI policy brief)
• Women’s economic empowerment: supporting transformative change (ODI briefing note)
• The MenCare 50/50 Commitment (MenCare)
• International men and gender equality survey (equimundo)
• Men and gender: a global status report in 15 headlines (equimundo)