Emma Watson laid the foundations of the HeForShe campaign in her recent United Nations address against gender inequality. 

HeForShe would provide a shift from the traditional feminist movement, which in recent times has come to be viewed as “too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and unattractive,” according to Watson. The campaign encourages men to act in support of women in their fight for equality. 

The argument that men should actively advocate equal rights for women and become a part of the solution is both strong and vital. It has the characteristics to change the landscape on which women today fight for parity.

While it might be possible to encourage men to fight for women’s rights in developed Western societies, where a significant portion of the educated male population is conscious of women’s rights movements, the same cannot be said for many parts of the rest of the world.

In countless regions of the developing world, women still face flagrant abuse and discrimination. They continue to fight for the most basic of rights, battling against the deep-rooted traditions of male hegemony.

In such regions, women stand alone in their fight for equality.

Last October in Saudi Arabia, women living under the strictest of discrimination laws found the courage to fight for their right to drive. 

Since then, several women there have gotten behind the wheel, defying the authorities who refuse to issue them driver’s licenses. Although the movement did not prompt the government to change any laws, it was a big step for a country where women cannot vote or leave the house without a male companion.

Saudi Arabian women, subjugated under an autocratic male society, cannot expect men to come to their aid. The only way for them to fight for their rights is with a tenacious independent movement by women for women.

Last year in Delhi, India, the sexual assault of a college student by a group of men on a public bus sparked outrage among the community after the woman who was attacked lost her life in the ordeal. 

Thousands gathered on the streets to protest the widespread sexual abuse that women in the country face. Protestors pushed for stricter legal sentences against perpetrators of sexual violence. The Indian legal system since then has come under scrutiny for its negligence in handling rape cases and its lax laws against sexual abuse.

Gender equality cannot exist when men blatantly violate the bodies of women and disregard their sensibilities. In India, women must not only fight those who choose to abuse them, but also the system that has failed to protect them.

There, the call for men to join the cause for women’s equality might generate some response, but it’s unlikely that most would care. 

Where there is such blatant disregard for women’s rights, women are resorting to traditional feminism that some view as excessive. 

According to The New York Times, as of 2011 an estimated 92 million women and girls across Africa had undergone female genital mutilation. Afterward, women are immune to sexual pleasure. 

In Senegal, the movement to end the practice has seen considerable success — success that was only possible after raising awareness among women about the dangers of the practice and encouraging them to fight for their bodies. Women have been able to raise their voice against a male dominated society still lost in age-old gender stereotypes, where women are thought purely to exist in the service of their fathers and husbands. 

They’re still fighting for a say in whether or not to undergo circumcision. 

These instances are a testament to the oppressive male attitudes toward women that continue to persist in regions across the world. 

The examples I mentioned are only the tip of the iceberg, and I am unconvinced that HeForShe would have any considerable impact in regions where men continue violate women’s rights without consequence or conscience. 

It’s hard to believe that these men could even understand the notion of equal rights for women. Before they can be asked to fight for females, they must be taught to respect them, which is cause for a movement in itself. Gender equality is an issue too diverse to have a single solution. 

The only hope for women in some parts of the world to acquire even basic human rights is to stand isolated, anti-man, strong and aggressive. 

Shivam is a senior in Engineering. He can be reached at [email protected].