Why Men must challenge patriarchy, support women’s leadership – Centre LSD

… Trains, empowers women’s rights activists, organizations

The African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) has tasked men to take more active and accountable roles in challenging patriarchy, preventing gender-based violence (GBV) and advancing women’s rights.

Project Director, Male Feminists Network (MFN) and the founding executive director Centre LSD, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, gave the charge Thursday in Abuja at a two-day capacity-strengthening programme for Women’s Rights Organisations (WROs), themed, “From Principles to Practice: Institutionalising Accountable Male Allyship in Women’s Rights Programming.”

The training brought together various prominent Women’s Rights Organisations (WROs) from across the country, using the Amandla Institute Strengthening Women’s Movement in Nigeria Manual.

Dr. Igbuzor, however, warned that male participation must strengthen, rather than overshadow, women’s leadership, voice and agency, saying 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.

“Men should become more visible in challenging patriarchy, but they should not become more powerful within the women’s rights movement,” he said.

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.

He said male allies must listen before leading, support rather than substitute women’s leadership, challenge other men, interrogate their privileges and accept correction, stressing that “accountability cannot be self-defined by the ally.”

The women empowerment advocate said sustainable change also required institutions to embed gender-equitable values in their policies, budgets, leadership structures and accountability systems.

He cited traditional and religious institutions as examples, saying occasional statements against GBV were insufficient without reforms capable of changing harmful practices.

The feminist explained that while the participation of a traditional ruler in a gender workshop was useful, adopting a community charter against harmful practices would demonstrate deeper institutional commitment.

Similarly, he said religious leaders should go beyond preaching against Gender Based Violence by integrating gender justice into sermons, premarital counselling, safeguarding systems and institutional responses to violence.

Igbuzor also cautioned Women’s Rights Organisations against creating a parallel men’s movement that competes with women-led organisations for voice, legitimacy or resources.

He said WROs should determine who qualifies as an ally, the values male allies must uphold, their roles and the consequences for violating agreed feminist principles.

He disclosed that the Male Feminists Network had trained more than 12,000 male feminists across the country, but stressed that the number trained was not evidence of transformation.

Rather, he said success should be measured through behavioural changes, institutional reforms, gender-responsive workplace policies, redistribution of unpaid care responsibilities and feedback from women and WROs on the conduct of male participants.

He added that the project was using post-training action plans, mentoring and feedback mechanisms to monitor behavioural changes.

Igbuzor identified seven principles of accountable male allyship: keeping women’s leadership central; addressing power, not just attitudes; accepting accountability; combining personal and institutional transformation; challenging other men; measuring outcomes; and ensuring male engagement does no harm to feminist movements.

He said the programme would equip participants with practical strategies for selecting and engaging male allies, preventing abuse of power and measuring whether male participation strengthened or undermined feminist objectives.

“The ultimate test of accountable male allyship will not be how many men call themselves feminists. It will be whether women and girls experience greater voice, greater agency, greater safety, greater equality and greater power over the decisions that shape their lives,” he said.

Also speaking, Project Lead, Male Feminist Project, Mrs. Victoria Oseyande Udoh, said Centre LSD deliberately brought men into the campaign against GBV because advocacy driven largely by women had not sufficiently engaged those who perpetrate violence.

Udo, who is also the organisation’s Director of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, said the project was established to mobilise men to join women in preventing GBV before it occurs.

“We don’t want it to start. We don’t want to start talking about survival. We want it not to start at all,” she said.

She added that involving male allies could make it easier to challenge harmful behaviour within male-dominated spaces because “men speak against gender-based violence, it makes it easy for men to resonate with them better.”

Udo identified traditional rulers as important partners because of their influence as custodians of customs and traditions, saying Centre LSD was working with them to identify and address harmful practices in their communities.

She also called for stronger government support, stressing that preventing violence against women was a collective responsibility.

Meanwhile, one of the participants, Ejiro Sharon Okotie of Hope Inspired Foundation for Women and Youth with Disabilities (HIFWYD) urged WROs to ensure that women with disabilities and other marginalised groups were actively involved in decisions affecting them.

Okotie said inclusion should go beyond representation to meaningful participation and leadership.

“For me, inclusion, not only as a woman but as a woman with disability, is a society where my voice is heard and I am able to meaningfully participate and make my contributions,” she said.

She urged rights organisations not to speak for excluded communities without involving them in designing and leading interventions.

“We do not exclude them. We do not speak for them. We ensure that they are at the centre of every transformation that is being done,” she said, citing the disability rights principle, “Nothing about us without us.”