A feminist group, the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), has charged men to take more active and accountable roles in challenging patriarchy, preventing gender-based violence (GBV) and advancing women’s rights.
   
To this end, Centre LSD disclosed that it has trained over 12,000 men as part of efforts to challenge patriarchy, prevent GBV and promote women’s rights.
   
The centre’s Project Director, Male Feminists Network (MFN), Dr Otive Igbuzor, made the call yesterday in Abuja during a capacity-strengthening programme for Women’s Rights Organisations (WROs), themed “From Principles to Practice: Institutionalising Accountable Male Allyship in Women’s Rights Programming.”
   
Igbuzor charged male participation to strengthen, rather than overshadow, women’s leadership, voice and agency, saying that genuine allyship must translate into measurable changes in behaviour, institutions and power relations.
   
He cautioned against “performative allyship,” where men participate in gender-equality platforms for visibility, status or access to resources without confronting patriarchal practices in their own lives and institutions.
   
According to him, accountable male allyship requires men to use their voice, influence, resources and social position to challenge patriarchy while remaining accountable to women, girls, feminist principles and women-led organisations.
   
Among others, Igbuzor noted that sustainable change also requires institutions to embed gender-equitable values in their policies, budgets, leadership structures and accountability systems.
   
Also speaking, the MFP Project Lead, Victoria Udo, explained that Centre LSD deliberately brought men into the campaign against GBV because advocacy driven largely by women had not sufficiently engaged those who perpetrate violence.
   
She identified traditional rulers as important partners in identifying and addressing harmful practices in their communities, given their role as custodians of customs and traditions.
   
For her part, Ejiro Okotie of Hope Inspired Foundation for Women and Youth with Disabilities urged WROs to ensure that women with disabilities and other marginalised groups were actively involved in decisions affecting them. She stressed that inclusion should go beyond representation to meaningful participation and leadership.