HeForShe Visits Sciences Po Paris

On the 1st of October, the HeForShe team stopped by Sciences Po in Paris as part of its #GetFree University Tour to mobilise students and discuss issues around gender equality.

Launched by UN Women, HeForShe is a global solidarity movement that encourages men to advocate and fight for gender equality (read our guide to the HeForShe initiative to learn more). The campaign made headlines last year after actor Emma Watson, who is a Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women, made a speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York calling on men to get involved.

Now, HeForShe is going on the road and it made Sciences Po one of its “impact university champions”, meaning that it is one of 10 universities around the world “committing to take bold, game-changing action to achieve gender equality within and beyond their institutions”.

The HeForShe bus tour brings speakers to the universities involved and Sciences Po saw Elizabeth Nyamayaro, head of HeforShe, take the stage to explain what the campaign is all about.

Before that, Sciences Po president Frederic Mion kicked off the event with an introduction speech in which he said he wants to “play a part in this fight [the fight for gender equality] as a university director, as a citizen and simply as a man”. A roundtable with a panel of speakers was also organised to debate on the role of men in the fight for gender equality.

The F. Word was there to talk to some students about their views on feminism and why they support the HeForShe movement:

“There are still profound inequalities between men and women. Some are more obvious than others but it’s only the tip of the iceberg, and I think it’s important to speak out about it and to fight to change it. We cannot turn this into a fight between genders, with women fighting for their rights on one side and men on the other. We will all benefit more if we fight for gender equality together.”

“I support the HeForShe movement because I think the only way to win the fight for gender equality is if we’re all in this together. We can’t do it with only half the society engaged.”

“I found out about this conference through the Sciences Po website and thought it was an interesting idea to include men in the feminism debate. What I learned is that, in fighting for women’s rights, men are not necessarily losing any of their privileges, in fact, it’s important to share them. I think this is what scares men the most – thinking they will give up their own rights if they advocate for gender equality. But that’s not what happens, and we can’t ignore the fact that there are still inequalities between men and women.”

“‘Feminism’ shouldn’t be a bad word and women must dare to be equal. I do competitive sailing so I know how hard it can be to assert yourself in certain fields, but it is possible for us to find our place.”

“I’m tired of people saying that it’s only up to women to fight for gender equality. Striving for gender equality is simply the right thing to do, and this makes it everybody’s reponsibility. In fact, it’s more a question of humanism than feminism: all human beings should have the same rights and be equal.”

 “I support HeForShe because it focuses on the fact that this fight concerns everyone. We’re all human beings and we should all be in this together. I’m glad this campaign has stopped by Sciences Po to raise awareness on gender equality issues, because we still have a long way to go.”