To mark International Women’s Day, Fenerbahçe, one of the largest and most popular sports clubs in Turkey and a champion for the HeForShe campaign, and UN Women spotlighted the importance of women’s equal participation and empowerment in sports.

On the way to the gym one day, I was listening to a podcast. The voice I heard had me spellbound. The influencer was speaking to the pain I was feeling inside, in a way that was more validating than anything I’d ever heard, not from my parents, not from school, not from the media. He said things like, “There is nothing less valued than young men,” and “Masculinity isn’t toxic.” Hearing this was deeply relieving. He gets it, I thought. I had found my tribe. Where I belonged.

When most people picture a mine worker, they imagine a man—and that’s no surprise. Mining has long been a male-dominated industry, shaped by traditional ideas of masculinity, leadership, and emotional restraint. But those norms are shifting, and I’m proud to be part of the movement driving that change.

25 September 2025 – On the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, HeForShe unveiled the HeForShe Barbershop Toolkit 2.0, a refreshed resource designed to engage men and boys in meaningful dialogue on gender equality.

“Women and girls are subjected daily to harassment, abuse, and discrimination across digital spaces. We must take bold action against online violence and misogyny – and engaging men and boys is essential to confronting harmful digital behavior. HeForShe reflects the growing recognition that gender equality is both a shared responsibility and a shared reward” 

Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director.  

New York, September 25 2025 – The signature Barbershop Toolkit has been reimagined for 2025 to meet the current realities of today’s gender equality landscape. First launched in 2017 through a collaboration with the Government of Iceland and UN Women Iceland, the Barbershop Toolkit was created to help facilitators spark peer-led conversations with men and boys about gender equality.

29 August 2025 

UN Women Türkiye’s Gender-Responsive Sports Reporting Handbook has been developed in collaboration with Fenerbahçe Sports Club with support from Tüpraş. Created within the HeForShe framework, it is part of the ‘Advancing Gender Equality in and through Sports in Türkiye’ project.

Harare 21st of  August 2025

In 1970s West Germany, in the wake of a new feminist awakening, women founded innovative projects, such as women’s shelters. Some men sensed that men must change as well and exit traditional masculinities. As a young man in my twenties, I met several men who established a consciousness raising group in West Berlin. We were unsatisfied with the traditional roles of our fathers – because of their positions both in the family and in German history.